


Adrenaline

by DreadBehemoth



Category: Final Fantasy XV, Kingsglaive, xXx (Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Ardyn is a powerful Crime Boss, BAMF Prompto Argentum, Cars, Criminal Organisations, F/F, Forced Sex Work, Guns, I will add tags as I go, M/M, Mild Gore, Nyx turns that rebelious attitude against the lucians, Slow Burn, Trying to take the cheesy action joy of xXx to Eos, and bioweapons, but his heart is still in the right place, choking (outside of the bedroom), lots of swearing, more or less, no magic...., or not as it is exists in kingsglaive, rating may go up to M, the sex work stuff is disscussed but does not lead to anything explicit happening
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-01-21 08:15:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12453294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreadBehemoth/pseuds/DreadBehemoth
Summary: Galahd was invaded, but King Regis wasn’t there to save Nyx and win his loyalty.Nyx had to save himself. He never joined the Kingsglaive and he got by on his own, left with no option but to leave his war-torn homeland and move to Insomnia as a refugee.  He keeps his head down and stays out of trouble, a good obedient crown citizen with abundant respect for authority ...Yeah right.Otherwise known as the Triple X (xXx) AU that nobody asked for! However, you don't need to have seen the film for this fic to make sense.





	1. Too Much Is Not Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nyx has no personal connections to the crown. He owes them nothing. This makes the hostility shown towards outsiders in Insomnia, and the disregard of his homeland, a bitter pill to swallow. But revenge on the other hand, is sweet.
> 
> Shout out to @Lythane for beta reading for me and generally being excited for this.

Nyx lifted his head to sneer at the Citadel sparkling in the Lucian sun. Already he could feel the familiar buzz of excitement that accompanied one of his stunts, though he had never attempted something quite like this before... After gathering intel for almost a month, the stage was finally set.

Nyx pulled on the “borrowed” Kingsglaive uniform, glancing at the unconscious glaive he’d left sprawled unceremoniously in the alleyway. He pulled the hood of the glaive jacket up, covering the horn tattoo that graced the shaved left side of his head, and hoisted the limp man up against his shoulder before heaving him out of the alley and flagging down a passing taxi.

“Hey, this guy’s not feelin’ too sharp.  Be a good crown citizen and drop him at this address?” Nyx shrugged the stripped glaive onto the back seat of the taxi and shoved a fist full of money, along with a scrawled address, at the stammering taxi driver with a smirk.

“Buckle up.”  He added to the glaive, who remained motionless and face down on the upholstery as Nyx casually slammed the car door.

He doubled back towards the Citadel. Since his move to insomnia Nyx had spent as little time as possible around the looming towers and surrounding area, but he was always struck by how damn _clean_ everything was. How much did the Lucian nobility spend having the roads and wide pavements power hosed? How much money had they shovelled into those neatly planted verges and decadent fountains? Meanwhile, in the run-down district where he lived there was barely a working street lamp.  Glancing at his watch, he approached the guarded East Entrance while those on duty were switching shifts. The sky was clear crystalline blue and the sun high in the sky. It was hot enough that most of the guards on duty had their hoods up to withstand the long hours in the sun, and nobody paid him any mind as he quietly entered the Citadel with the others returning from their posts.

 _That was almost too fucking easy..._ Nyx thought to himself smugly, as he made his way towards the home of the royal family.  It wasn’t over yet.

Nyx hung back from the group, breaking away from the other glaives as they headed towards the training courtyard and setting off towards the main entrance of the Citadel. He waited with his back to the wall concealed to one side of the wide sweeping stone staircase, the pale stone was inlaid with intricate patterns and Nyx rolled his eyes noticing the fancy red and gold carpet that lead from the monument up to the citadel entrance.  He checked his watch again just as he heard the low purr of a car engine pulling up into the plaza.

He paced into position to stand silently to one side of the staircase, arms behind his back in imitation of the stiff position the Kingsglaive took up on guard duty.  The Prince, all in black, emerged from his car.  He seemed to be in the middle of a heated argument with his Sheild, who was wearing his Crownsguard uniform. Nyx watched as the pair of them strolled towards the staircase on their way to a council meeting, right on schedule.

“I don’t even see why I have to be here…These meetings aren’t going anywhere,” The prince mumbled to his Shield sulkily, earning him a disapproving grunt from the bigger man.

“Noct, at least pretend you give a rat’s ass about the peace negotiations.”

The prince rolled his eyes and scoffed at him.

“I care about _peace_ Gladio, I just wish everyone would stop going around in circles. It’s so damn boring,” 

He paused at the bottom of the stairs and inclined his head towards Nyx with disinterest, car keys dangling from one finger.        

“Can you take my car down to the basement carpark?” He said flatly, squinting at him as though searching for a familiar face under the hood.  Nyx wondered if the Crown Prince knew any of the glaives by name. 

“Yes your Highness.”

Nyx responded, barely managing to keep the sharp bite of sarcasm from his voice as he stalked over to the Prince and plucked the car keys from his finger.  Nyx headed for the car, letting out a breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding in. The gleaming Audi waited for him, top down, spotless and glittering like a precious stone in the Plaza.  Nyx shoulders were tense with restless energy as though static were building in his muscles.  He pushed back the hood of the kingsglaive jacket and unlocked the car, letting himself fall into the driver’s seat.  Nyx hurriedly repositioned the seat and mirrors, unable to keep the grin off his face, catching a flash of his teeth bared in the rear-view mirror.

He turned the key in the ignition and the engine purred to life, deep and rumbling through him in perfect harmony with the electric buzz of adrenaline building in his chest. He pulled a small camera, his phone and a tiny custom camera rig from one of the deep pockets of the glaive trousers, setting them securely to the dashboard.  He set them to live stream, the camera capturing the view from the windscreen, his phone facing him.         

Nyx slammed his foot down on the accelerator, making the engine roar and the wheels spin as he shoved the car in drive. He glanced at the camera and laughed, steel blue eyes sparkling wickedly.    

“Let’s fuckin’ do this.”    

 

 ______xXx______

 

Prince Noctis had barely reached the top of the staircase when the sounds of engine revving and tyres screaming had him spinning round sharply to face the implausible scene unfolding before him.

The Glaive was doing goddamn donuts in _his_ car.  Smoke billowed from the rear wheels in thick clouds accompanied by the smell of burning rubber. 

Noctis could do nothing but stand there with his mouth open next to Gladio, who looked equally lost for words.

The other glaives on duty at the Citadel entrance had started to run down the stairs, while a few moved to flank their Prince protectively.  The noise had summoned Drautos, Captain of the Kingsglaive, from the training courtyard.

“SHUT THE GATES! SPIKES UP!”  the Captain bellowed, barely managing to make himself heard over the snarling engine.

The "glaive", and Noctis realised he had never seen a glaive with tattoos like that before, took one hand off the steering wheel to flip his middle finger at Drautos with a flash of teeth. He span the car around the monument in the centre of the Plaza, the back of the car drifting as he turned sharply before speeding for the exit as the gates began to close.

But the wheel spikes did not raise…The gate’s power seemed to fail before they could cut off the exit. There was an awful crunching noise as both of the Audi’s wing-mirrors snapped and the spine curdling sound of metal screaming as the gates scored lines into the gleaming paintwork; but he was gone.  The car was gone.

As the smoke slowly began to clear those who remained in the plaza were left to slowly comprehend what had just happened.   

Drautos was the first to recover and break the silence, fingers to his earpiece as he deployed teams to get in pursuit of the Prince’s stolen car.

 

  ______xXx______

 

Nyx tore away from the Citadel over the bypass, weaving through the sparse traffic at high speed as the engine roared around him and the wind whipped past him in a rush.

“We just gotta make a real quick pit stop….” He said to the camera as he pulled into a layby under the bridge and stopped, glancing into the lens with a smirk.

“This video is gonna be a little different to the usual stunts…Sorry to get all political on you, but we seriously gotta talk about this _bullshit_ that is the “peace” treaty.”

A rucksack landed with a thud on the backseat of the car and Nyx snatched it up off the seat and pulled it on, fastening the straps tightly as he leaned back to look up at the bridge. Libertus gave him a lazy wave from his vantage point, leaning over the edge of the bridge above him.

He gave the other man a nod and glanced over his shoulder calmly as a police car sped onto the slip road behind him. Another was tearing towards him along the bypass.  He felt the adrenaline flare in his chest again and shoved his foot on the accelerator, the engine roared around him like a beast as he raced ahead. Nyx had to raise his voice to be sure the cameras could pick up his commentary.

 “looks like we’ll have to talk and drive... These idiots are following me because I just took this car- Obviously it doesn’t belong to me it’s not really my style.  It actually belongs to Prince Night Light, heir to the throne when we lose good ol’ Regis.”

Nyx took his attention off the camera to out-manoeuvre the police tailing him, taking the next slip road that lead up to the flyover, narrowly avoiding a transit van and a battered yellow car as he darted between them.  The flyover, supported above the crawling traffic and crowds of the city centre by its many columns, stretched out ahead of him towards the controlled exit point at the edge of the wall. Cranes, apartment blocks, Sky scrapers, all flashed past him in a blur of sparkling glass, concreate and light. He had put so much distance between himself and the chasing police it was laughable.

“Lets recap,” Nyx took one hand off the wheel and held up a finger.

 “Lucis withdraws its forces from the outer territories, leaving them at the mercy of the Nifs,” 

He sneered and held up another finger.

 “The Nifs Invade, attack and destroy. While Lucis watches safe behind its walls. Three-”

He snarled, holding up a third finger.

“Refugees from war torn regions have no option but to come here as second-class citizens, to work the shitty jobs for even shittier pay or fight and die in Lucian wars, and _for what_?”

He put his hands back on the wheel and glared at the road ahead.

“They gave away our homes, turned their backs on our families. Now this peace treaty comes up they are planning to tie a ribbon on the rubble. Well you know what- Fuck Lucis. Fuck you Prince Night Light and FUCK YOU Regis.”

Nyx took a deep breath as the air whipped his braids back, regaining his calm before glancing back at the camera with a smile. 

“This car is equipped with a _mobile espresso unit_ …The alloys and the carbon exterior finish on this thing alone would pay my rent for a year.  The whole car would pay my rent for 21 years.”

Nyx was silent for a moment before he laughed.

“I hope you miss it.” He added, putting a hand on his heart in mock sincerity.    

Nyx could see Pelna up ahead at the side of the flyover in his motorcycle gear, a large camera braced on one shoulder and his motorcycle helmet held loosely at his hip. He was standing on the top of a beaver tail truck which was parked angled across two lanes with the ramp down.  They were much further out of the city centre now, and judging by the lack of other cars on the road Nyx thought it was likely the police had closed all the slipways onto the road.  

There were no skyscrapers here as the flyover crossed over a wide ravine.  The river glittered below them, flanked on both sides by a dusty construction site. There had been plans to build a luxury hotel on the riverfront, but the company had gone bust, leaving the site abandoned for some time. Before that, Nyx knew it had been a makeshift refugee camp for those who hadn’t been able to scrape together the money to live in the city centre. Who knows where those people had ended up…   

Nyx gripped the steering wheel and lined the car up with the ramp of the truck, putting the cruise control on the car.  He shifted up to crouch on the driver’s seat, one hand still gripping the steering wheel.  His pulse raced. Pounding as though his heart was in his mouth.  It all came down to these seconds, mere seconds of painstaking precision where one false move could kill him. But Nyx lived for this, had pulled off this kind of stunt too many times to fail now.  The Audi hit the edge of the ramp and lurched upwards, he pulled the steering wheel and the car sailed off the lorry platform and over the edge of the bridge. 

For a moment, standing on the back of the driver’s seat with his arms spread as the car began to fall, Nyx forgot about everything else. The King, the Prince, the ashes of his home and the bones of his family, all fell away in those brief seconds of weightless bliss as the sunlight streamed above him and the wind blew his hair back from his face. He tugged at the ripcord on the backpack and released his parachute, feeling the lines pull taught as the canopy deployed after a few more glorious moments of freefalling.

Pelna made an appreciative whoop from the bridge above him as he filmed the finalé. The Princes car smashed into ground with a deafening crash and erupted into flames as the fuel tank burst.           

Nyx watched the car burn and laughed, still buzzing from the thrill of the jump as he guided the parachute down towards the construction site where Libertus was waiting for him. Libertus greeted him with a wide grin as he filmed Nyx descending, the towering flyover and the burning wreckage of the Prince’s car in the shot behind him.      

“ _Your Highness,”_ Nyx taunted, “you can have your car back as long as you don’t arrest me... Am I doing this peace treaty thing right?”   

 Libertus laughed and cut off the camera as Nyx feet hit the ground. Between them they packed up the camera and rapidly gathered up the parachute before jogging over to where they had left their motorbikes.

“Not that you need to hear it, but that was incredible.” Libertus said, still breathless with laughter.

Nyx gave him a clap on the shoulder and swung his leg over his bike.

“Oh I know.  C’mon let’s go catch up with Pelna.”

 Nyx shoved on his motorcycle helmet and glanced up at the flyover.  Several police cars had pulled up and he could just about see the tiny crestfallen figures looking out at them, shrouded in the smoke from the burning wreckage.  

He smirked, revelling in the intense feeling of satisfaction as he revved the bike into action.  Nyx sped off with Libertus along the dirt track back into the city, disappearing from view. 

  ______xXx______

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! :) Rating may change to Mature later.


	2. Capable, Controllable...Disposable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lucians discuss the troubling events…and what to do with Nyx.

Noctis groaned with his head in his hands and flopped limply against Gladio’s shoulder. They were waiting in his old bedroom at the Citadel, both hunched in front of a laptop waiting to be summoned for the meeting to update them on the situation.  

“I still can’t believe this...” Noctis mumbled into the bigger man’s jacket defeatedly.   

Gladio rubbed the Prince’s back reassuringly, taking the opportunity while his eyes were covered to re-watch the end of the video where the car plunged off the bridge.  Setting aside both his anger and the pressing issue of the security breach, Gladio was ashamed to admit the stunt looked cool as shit. Not that he would ever admit that out loud.

The incident had quickly got media attention, and once the press had found the culprit was live streaming the whole event the videos had rapidly gone viral.  

Ignis opened the door and looked over at them solemnly.

“They are ready for us to head down…I suggest we make haste.”

The three of them made their way to the council room in tense silence and took their seats.  Noctis felt the elaborately patterned marble floors and intricately carved ebony panels felt unusually cold and unwelcoming. The fragrant smoke of the incense and the decorative gold glittering illuminated by the skylight above them made his stomach churn in conflict. He noticed his father’s eyes on him, and glanced away from the king, unsure what emotion his own face would show.

When the dull mummers had died down and everyone had taken their seats Clarus spoke up.

“What further news do you have for us Captian Drautos.” He said, face stern.

Drautos rose to stand at the far end of the table opposite the king. His figure cast a long dark shadow across the marble table, the golden sunlight streaming in from above painting the maroon of his jacket blood red.

“The breach was more serious than we initially feared. The gates and security spikes at the front entrance had been sabotaged. The intruders route from the East entrance through the citadel and his body positioning suggests a knowledge of the security camera layout. His timing indicates he knew the schedules of both the guard and the Prince. This was a planned attack, likely with inside help.”

There was stony silence for a moment before one of the council spoke up.

“And have the Kingsglaive secured the _criminal_ in question yet?” 

“Not yet. But we will.” Drautos said firmly.

“And what of his fate?” The council member replied, “He is a threat and should certainly be eliminated.”

There was a mumbled agreement from a few of the other council members. Drautos continued over the noise.

“I feel, in light of the public attention this has unfortunately gathered, assassination would be unwise.”

 Clarus nodded, holding a hand up to silence the noises of objection.

“I agree … but this is more serious than simple car theft and should be treated as such.”

King Regis remained quiet, his hands clasped in front of him and his face giving little away before he once again spared a quick glance in the direction of the Prince and addressed the room.

“The culprit has gone to no efforts to hide his identity or his intentions, which he stated were political.  While Lucis welcomes the expression of free speech, this was no peaceful protest. Neither his message nor the publicity of this event change the seriousness of the crimes in question. Theft, dangerous driving, public endangerment and based on your report concerning his knowledge of both the workings of the citadel and my son’s schedule- espionage.”

The King paused, and placed his hands flat on the table before clenching one fist. Noctis, watching his father, realised then how truly angry he was. He hid it well, but it showed in the slight tightening around his eyes, the whitening of his knuckles and the way he pressed his fist hard against the table.  He continued, his determined gaze fixed on Drautos.

“These are all serious offences.  As the Captain has stated, It is likely he did not act alone, which has worrying implications…Others involved in this, or those who share the culprits sentiments, may take things a step further and escalate to violence against the Crown. He will be charged, and he will be imprisoned.”

Another silence filled the sunlit room before Drautos spoke again.

“I agree. However, might I suggest an alternative for your consideration.”

King Regis gave a terse nod in response and relaxed back against his elaborate chair.

Drautos pushed back away from the table squaring his shoulders.

“My suggestion requires a brief explanation…One which I had hoped to give today during the council meeting though these events of course took priority.”  He paused, jaw tense.

“Three weeks ago, I was approached by a group known as Infernian based in Niflheim.  They wanted me to spy for them. After gathering all the information I could about them, I of course refused. However, what I learned about them during that time was a cause for great concern.”

Clarus interrupted him, cutting off the murmurs of alarm that had arose across the table as he slammed his hand down on the marble, narrowing his eyes at Drautos. Beside his Shield, the king watched, his expression cold and guarded.  

“You mean to tell us you have had contact with a group based in the nation we are currently at war with and you waited three weeks to tell us of this?”

Drautos let a sharp breath out through his nose and shook his head in exasperation.

“Until I could be fully assured Infernian did not already have spies within the Citadel, revealing that I was in contact with them would have been too risky, and I would have got nowhere with my investigation.” 

Clarus shoulders relaxed ever so slightly but he still looked suspicious.

“So you are certain now that this Infernian group has no spies within the Citadel?”

 Drautos nodded. “I’m certain.”

There was yet another unpleasant silence, the air felt charged with rising tension that crept along Drautos’ spine like a knife. He _hated_ full council meetings… The forced politeness of politics made him want to stab something. Even stringing a full sentence together seemed like a lot of unnecessary hard work. This would all go much quicker if he could afford to be direct in these situations. Putting on a performance for his “superiors” was so incredibly exhausting, but it wouldn’t do to falter now, lest the rest of the room discover how close he had come to taking Infernian up on their offer. The king mercifully put him out of his misery, gesturing for him to continue with a frustrating flick of his wrist. Drautos rolled his shoulders back subtly and continued.       

“Infernian have been involved in the production of the Empire's Magitek Infantry. The local police in that residence recently secured evidence leading them to believe the group is developing a bioweapon. All attempts to infiltrate and learn more have failed.  Most of the members are ex-military, they can smell any formal training from a mile away.  The police are getting desperate and have even conceded to accept a few Lucian personnel. This could be significant…A threat to both nations. Too _all_ nations, not just Niflheim.”    

One of the council members scoffed.

“And what exactly does this have to do with the fate of the criminal in question?”

Drautos shot the man an irritated look before schooling his expression back to a careful blank mask.

“I propose we send him in to infiltrate Infernian and obtain information that will help us shut them down. In exchange, we wipe the slate clean, and let him keep his freedom.”

The council erupted into a chorus of objection, Drautos closed his eyes and steeled his remaining resolve while Clarus called for silence again.

“How can you ever expect to guarantee the cooperation of somebody like _that_!” Clarus exclaimed as another round of jeers echoed his statement.

 “If Infernian truly are as dangerous as you say, how can someone with no formal training hope to gather any meaningful intel?” Clarus continued, examining Drautos incredulously.

 “He has already infiltrated the citadel on multiple occasions without detection and successfully stole the Prince’s car from right under our noses.” Drautos replied, voice clipped and firm. When nobody had anything to say in light of that reminder, he continued.

“As for his cooperation, you underestimate what a man like that will do to hold on to his freedom, or to secure the freedom of those closest to him. If we have his friends in our custody he will be completely under our control. I am sure of it.”   

The murmured objections were fainter.

“I believe this would work” Cor, Marshal of the Crownsguard remarked with a sense of finality, raising his voice to be heard. Drautos could have kissed the immortal right then and there in gratitude.

Clarus looked at Cor startled, as the Marshal leaned forward to elaborate.

“The information the Crownsguard has recovered on the culprit so far supports the Captains statements. He should be capable and controllable….”  _And disposable_ hung in the air unsaid.

“There is nothing to tie him to the Lucian military and expose him as a spy for the Crown.” Cor finished.

Clarus looked more thoughtful than murderous now and eventually turned a hopeful yet questioning gaze towards the King.

Regis looked back at Drautos sternly, and as the silence stretched out across the room again like a frayed thread at breaking point, the Captain feared he might crack a tooth under the strain of clenching his jaw.

“I will permit this.” The King conceded suddenly.   “You will supervise this mission Captain Drautos. Understand that should this plan backfire, there will be repercussions for you.”

Drautos bowed his head, grateful for the opportunity to avert his gaze and hide the resentment in his eyes as he looked down at the cold marble floor under his feet. In spite of it, relief washed over him. It was a chance.

Footsteps echoed across the council room as one of the kingsglaive came to stand beside him, the tension in the other man’s shoulders betraying his calm expression.

“Your Majesty, Captain, Esteemed Nobles and members of the council, apologies for the interruption..”   

Drautos raised a questioning eyebrow at the glaive and frowned, wishing he would just spit it out. After clearing his throat, a noise which echoed awkwardly throughout the room, the other man continued.

“We found him.  We have Nyx Ulric in custody.” 

______xXx______

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have finished this chapter too so figured I'd just post it today as well. You'll probs have the next installment by next Sunday. :D


	3. Yes, It's about the mobile esspresso unit...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The events leading up to the capture of Nyx Ulric...

Nyx and Libertus pulled up their bikes in an empty alleyway, cutting off the growling engines and making their way towards the bar. There was no doubt the police and the Kingsglaive would be monitoring his flat, so Nyx planned to lay low and keep moving until he could plan his exit from the city.

He had switched the glaive jacket for a black leather biker jacket, emblazoned with purple and white, hood pulled up to keep his tattoos covered. The sky was still clear, tinged with a blush of orange as the sun began to set, leaving a chill in the air. 

The soft gold light of the late afternoon sun sparkled across the dishevelled rooftops of the bustling slums, casting long shadows throughout the cramped, narrow alleyways.  Nyx made his way up the two flights of industrial steel stairs and paused to look out from the rusting balcony.

The heart of the slums was truly an assault on the senses; a multi-story mess of inconsistently fabricated street food vendors and shop fronts in disrepair, lit up with flickering neon. The smells of stagnant water and the smog of traffic mixed with the steam of food; simmering vats of curries over propane cookers and chargrilled meats. People ran and shouted, bursts of laughter floated over the wails of distant sirens and the thudding bass of the music from the bar behind him.

The vibrancy was not enough to conceal the homeless huddled on street corners, or the urgency of those hurrying to late shifts at second jobs, coughing into their sleeves.

“Hey Nyx- You OK there?”  Libertus said abruptly, loud enough to break his trance and earn a non-committal grunt in response.  Libs rolled his eyes and twisted the door handle, pushing open the door and shoving Nyx playfully into the bar.  

As the door swung open, they were greeted with a sudden roar of cheers; The bar was packed full of familiar faces which Nyx knew was _very_ counterproductive considering his plans to “lay low”, but he couldn’t help but grin as the pair of them stepped into the dimly lit bar.

“You invited these people?” He teased, rounding on Pelna who was standing by the door with a laugh.

“Of course not!” Pelna retorted with a sheepish grin, raising his palms in mock defence.

Nyx made his way over to the bar, accepting appreciative slaps on the shoulder and admiring commentary, as well as hearing “Fuck prince night light!” enthusiastically quoted back at him.

“Can’t believe you pulled that shit off Nyx!” Dino yelled out from behind the bar, grinning and shaking his head in disbelief as he passed Nyx a cold bottled beer. “It’s on the house.”

Nyx took a seat at the bar and accepted it with a grin.  “Thanks,”  

Crowe moved up to perch on the barstool next to him, fixing him with a calculated stare.

“Have you had a chance to watch the video yet? It’s got the most hits so far of any of your stunts – almost crashed our server when the comments came flooding in,” she mused, taking a sip from her beer.

Nyx gave her a wide grin and nodded.

“I had a look when I stopped to change, the final edit is really something. Though my skills and undeniable charm _really_ sell it.” He teased.

Crowe gave him a playful shove before her face became more serious. “So where are you heading now?”

Nyx just shrugged in response. “I was just gunna improvise…” 

Crowe sighed and rolled her eyes. “I can’t keep an underground website up and running with you locked up in the dungeons Nyx, you need to get out of here and lay low ‘til the heats off.”

Nyx grinned at her fearlessly. “You worry too much Crowe, c’mon…” He looked up and raised his beer to gesture Dino over, who rested his elbows on the counter and leant down to listen to them over the beat of the music.  

 “When you next heading outta Lucis?” Nyx asked hopefully.

“Three days. I got a tip off bout some sapphires.” Dino replied, looking between Crowe and Nyx. “Why, you wanna play stow-away again?”

“Yeah,” Nyx nodded and took another swig of beer. “I’ll make it up to you.”   

“You better!” Dino snorted, pointing an accusing finger at Nyx as he returned to serving drinks.

Nyx downed the rest of his beer, giving Crowe a smug ‘told-ya-so’ look which didn’t seem to impress her.

“Please try to take this a _bit_ more seriously, Nyx.” She sighed, eyeing him with a fond but infuriated look. It was a look she often wore when providing good advice… Advice she knew Nyx was unlikely to take.

“Please,” He scoffed defiantly, “I’m untouchable.”  Nyx gestured dramatically to the room.  “It’s not like they’re bangin’ on the door.”

At that precise moment the door to the bar was blown clean off its hinges and the whole room was plunged into darkness. The blinding glare of torches pierced the gloom as the Kingsglaive flooded into the bar, surging through the scrabbling crowd of half-lit faces as the guests fled for the exits.    

Nyx sighed and pushed away from the bar, ignoring Crowe’s plea for him to try and leave quietly out the back and shaking her grip off his wrist.  He raised his palms calmly and moved towards the Glaives, squinting slightly against the glare of the torches.  They were here for him, there was no reason for anybody else to get knocked about.  

“Alright we’ll turn down the music…” he said lazily, with a smirk that became a frown as he noticed they were not brandishing their typical blades but _guns._

He was cut off from the crowd now, and could hear what he thought was Libertus’ bellowing as a shot rang out through the bar. The impact felt like the bite of a needle, and Nyx reflexively flinched in surprise, plucking a tiny crystal-clear dart from just under his ribcage, a bead of green fluid clung to the tip of the needle.

“Is this about the mobile espresso unit?” Nyx groaned as his vision rapidly spiralled out of focus. He swayed on the spot uncertainly for a moment before the floor rushed up to meet him and his mind was swallowed by black.

 

______xXx______

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a short chapter to get everyone On the same page. Have a much bigger chunk to be poster either tonight or tomorrow. Thanks again to @lythane for the help beta-reading! <3


	4. Coeurl In a Cage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nyx has to make a decicion: Do as he's told, or remain a prisoner.
> 
> Shame he's no good at taking orders...

Nyx didn’t want to open his eyes.  His head was pounding as though it was about to split in two and there was an uncomfortable pressure at the back of his skull.  He slowly shifted onto his side, feeling as though his brain were a bruised yolk rolling around painfully inside the broken shell of a fragile egg.  He shifted his weight around methodically assessing his condition. Other than suffering from what felt like the sum of all the hangovers he had ever experienced combined, he felt uninjured. After a few moments, when the worst of the nausea had subsided Nyx managed to slowly open his eyes.

He was laying on the cold polished marble tiles of a huge ornate hallway. Great stone archways embellished with gold curved up meet the high ceiling and elaborately embroidered tapestries graced the walls.  Wide shafts of warm sunlight poured in from the windows that stretched across the whole length of the room, casting a great pool of gold across the floor where dust specks danced in the glow. Nyx looked away from the light, which pierced his eyes like blades, and managed to push himself up to his knees with a groan of protest.

There were two heavy sets of double doors flanked by stone columns and, as Nyx took in the layout of the room, he noticed a single security camera pointed in his direction.  If somebody was watching the monitors now they would know he was awake. 

Nyx pushed himself up on his feet and rolled his stiff shoulders back. The situation was odd. He didn’t appear to be in a cell, there were no guards in the room, and he wasn’t restrained.

He went over to the set of doors at the furthest end of the room noticing, but not reacting to, the way the security camera tracked his movement.  They _were_ watching him.  If the Lucians wanted to play games? Fine. But he wasn’t going to play by their rules.

Nyx stretched his arms above his head working some of the tension out of his shoulders casually before giving one of the wall hangings a sudden tug, pulling it off the wall where it fell with a clatter against the stone.  Nyx listened to the sound it made. A wooden support ran through the top of the tapestry…Metal would have been better, he thought to himself, but wood was better than nothing. 

Nyx left it laying on the ground near the door and wandered along the edge of the room, yanking down each tapestry as he passed with amusement. Given how he had ended up here, whoever was watching him on the surveillance monitors might assume he was simply desecrating the room for the sake of it.  He paced towards the tapestry closest to the security camera and, with an especially violent tug of the heavy fabric, brought it down over the camera. Blocking their view.

Nyx knew he wouldn’t have long to act. There were probably guards positioned outside so he’d soon have company.  He extracted two wooden dowels from the closest tapestries and bundled the heavy cloth up in one arm.  He spun, launching one of the dowels like a javelin at the high windows, shattering a large pane of glass with an almighty crash.  The shards of glass sparkled in the sunlight as they fell like sinister icicles, scattering across the marble floor. 

Nyx quickly ducked behind a column beside the doors, holding his breath as a pair of guards shoved open the heavy doors. They ran into the room, fingers pressed to their ear-pieces and eyes predictably drawn straight to the broken window, allowing Nyx to bolt out the door behind them.  He found two more guards waiting in the hall, whose faces barely had time to register their surprise before Nyx threw the tapestry, whipping it out with a snap straight over their heads.  He held the dowel out straight in front of his chest and shoved them back against the wall roughly. They collided against the stone with muffled yells and a crunch, staggering backwards and tripping over the fabric as Nyx leapt over them, setting off at a full sprint down the hallway.

Echoing shouts followed him along the corridor as he skidded around the corner. The hallway opened out into a series of archways supported by square columns flanking a beautifully planted courtyard. The lush garden was a riot of colour filled with exotic flowers. At the centre stood an elaborate domed sculpture encircled by a peaceful water feature. The whole oasis was surrounded by sparkling glass walls that flashed in the sun, a greenhouse of epic proportions.

Nyx, spotting a group of Crownsguard appearing at the opposite end of the hallway, darted behind a row of large neatly planted conifers before they could see him. He propped himself up on his elbows to quietly catch his breath, breathing in the scent of wisteria and honeysuckle, concealed on all sides amongst the immaculate flowerbeds.     

A sudden cool draft against his skin brought his attention to the perimeter of the giant greenhouse, where some of the large glass panes had been tilted open. He remembered the curved roof of the giant greenhouse from planning his grand-theft-auto stunt, and knew where the nearest exit would be. It was his chance to escape.

Nyx pushed up into a crouch and made his way towards the edge of the greenhouse, moving silently along the cobblestone pathway.  He pushed the window open as wide as it would go and was about to begin to crawl through when a sudden burst of nervous laughter from the courtyard made him pause. Nyx raised himself up and peered through a gap between some palm fronds with a frown, eyes widening as he caught sight of the Prince and his Shield in a rather compromising position…

Amicitia was sitting on the floor with his back against the stone wall of a large raised flowerbed, the Crown Prince straddling his hips.  The Shield was covering the Prince’s mouth with one hand in effort to prevent any more sounds escaping his lips, while his other hand gripped the Princes small waist, fingers pushing up the soft fabric of the black t-shirt. The shield kissed a line along the exposed pale skin of the Prince’s throat as his hand slid higher under his t-shirt to stroke the smaller man’s chest.  Noctis was flushed, his face tilted back and his eyes closed, absorbed in the moment.  Nyx had to bite his lip to stop himself wolf whistling at them as the Prince pushed his Shield’s hand off his mouth roughly and lowered his head to kiss him hungrily, grinding his hips down against the larger man.

Nyx, convinced the pair of them were far too distracted to notice him, held his breath as he crawled through the open window. He pushed up to his feet and allowed himself a wide grin, the image of the princes flushed face still imprinted on the back of his eyelids.  He couldn’t afford to get distracted now. Nyx gripped the wooden dowel that was currently his only weapon, steeling himself before running down a flight of stairs into the nearby service tunnel.

Sunlight and the rumbling noise of traffic filtered through the steel grating above him as he followed the pipelines along the narrow dusty corridor, pacing silently towards the light at the end of the tunnel.  He paused before steeping into the glare of pale light and peered around the corner of the tunnel carefully.  The exit was there! Nyx could see the door that lead into the park outside the citadel, but there were four Kingsglaive on guard between him and the door.  Nyx pressed his back against the wall and looked up at the grates and pipes on the ceiling above him. After a moments consideration, he took hold of his dowel and ran it along the pipes. The metalic hum reverberated along the narrow corridor, making enough of a noise to attract the attention of the guards.

He jumped up and grabbed hold of one of the pipes above him, gracefully hoisting himself up, positioning himself with his hands and feet braced against the edges of the narrow wall on the celling, looking down at the floor.  A pair of Kingsglaive rounded the corner to investigate. They were expecting to find a familiar tenacious cat that often used the service tunnels and were caught off guard when instead a grown man brandishing a dowel dropped down from the ceiling on top of them.

Nyx knocked out the first with a boot to the face before spinning the second into the wall with a crack. He could hear the rapid footsteps of the other Glaives as they ran to aid their fallen colleagues and quickly snatched up the downed guard’s blades from the floor. It put him in a much better position than being armed with a stick. Nyx knew exactly what he was doing with blades.

“This is unit C4 reporting a disturbance in the north service tunnels,” One of the Glaives barked, voice echoing oddly through the confines of the tunnel. 

Nyx grimaced and readied himself, now they had sounded an alert he needed this to be over.  Quickly.  Fighting in such a confined space was not ideal but it did mean the fact he was outnumbered wouldn’t count for much, there wasn’t room for them to do much more than get in each other’s way.  He took in a deep breath and darted around the corner to face them. 

The closest Glaive slashed at him and metal clashed as Nyx blocked the attack with his own stolen blade.  He quickly brought the hilt of his second blade up into his attacker’s chin and kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling back into the Glaive behind him. Nyx darted forward over the fallen man, searching for an opening to land a hit on the remaining guard.  The Glaive blocked the incoming attacks, but staggered backwards, allowing Nyx to gain ground.  

They traded sharp short blows for a moment until Nyx managed to slice the other guards elbow with his blade, breaking the other man’s rhythm. The split second of hesitation was all it took for Nyx to gain the upper hand, grabbing the Glaive’s arm and twisting it behind his back.  The guard yelped as his blade clattered to the floor and Nyx knocked him face first into the pipes, watching as he slipped to the floor with a thud. 

He sprinted ahead to the door at the end of the service tunnel, there was no time to catch his breath.

Nyx shouldered the door open and ran through the park, the sunlight flashed green and gold through the leaves of the trees as the wind picked up around him.  He could see the road ahead, could see the crowds of the city as freedom beckoned…Until something heavy and solid barrelled into him, sending him sprawling across the dew-covered grass.

Nyx rolled back up to his feet fluidly, breath sharp in his lungs as he stared up at Titus Drautos; Captain of the Kingsglaive. A towering broad-shouldered man whose stern face was covered in pale scars. Nyx tightened his grip on his blades, eyes shifting to the unnecessarily large sword in the other man’s hand.    

“Looks like you’re compensating for something, pretty boy,” Nyx spat, chest rising and falling as he gasped for air.   He pointed his blade at Drautos with a sneer. “I knew there would be somebody waiting for me at the finish line. I sure hope you told your guys to go easy on me for this game, because that performance was _terrible_ ,” He laughed, and took a step towards Drautos, breathing already much steadier.  “The only people that managed to stall me was the Prince in the fuckin' flower beds sucking his sheilds...” Nyx spun his knife in his hand dramatically and pointed it at Drautos. "...Face."  

Drautos regarded Nyx coldly. While the man had shown he was capable of infiltrating the Citadel and stealing a car with careful planning, Drautos had wanted to assess how well he thought on his feet.  It had also been posed as a training drill for the recruits… Some of whom apparently needed _much_ more training on dealing with emergency situations.

“I’m here to make you a deal, Nyx Ulric,” He stated flatly.

“You need some better pick-up lines,” Nyx retorted, eyes flicking to the city centre behind Drautos, before he launched himself towards the bigger man, blades flashing in the sun.

Drautos eyes widened slightly. He was more surprised that Nyx had both nerve and the energy to attack him, rather than being caught off guard by the move.  He swung his sword and brought it down with powerful precision, the flat of the blade landing across Nyx’s wrist with a smack as he kicked him back onto the ground with a heavy boot to the ribs.

Nyx gritted his teeth and let out a sharp cough and a hiss of pain as he cradled his wrist. “You’re pretty fast for an old man,” he huffed.

“Get up Ulric. Drop the blades.” Drautos said sternly.

Nyx glared up at Drautos and rose to his feet reluctantly, leaving the blades on the ground. His scowl and the tense set of his shoulders showed how much the simple act of _doing what he was told_ was costing him.

“Walk with me,” Drautos said abruptly, sheathing his sword and setting off along the path deeper into the park, arrogantly anticipating Nyx would follow and feeling a swell of satisfaction when he did, even if it did come with unwanted commentary.

“Why, do you need help crossing a road?” He snapped, walking along the path next to Drautos resentfully.

“I have a favour to ask you.” Drautos replied curtly, his boots crunching on the gravel path.

“Are you serious?” Nyx snorted, “Do I look like I’m clamouring for the opportunity to serve the fuckin Crown?”

“This is not about serving the Crown.” Drautos shot him a venomous look.

It was the first time Nyx had seen any genuine emotion twist the features of his scarred face and it made him pause, even if it didn’t do anything to improve his mood.

“What then.” Nyx glared at him.

“It’s about securing freedom,” Drautos replied evenly. “and It’s an easy favour. All I need you to do is meet some people, and find out what you can about them.”

Nyx eyed him suspiciously. “What people…”

“Uncivilized, dangerous, disrespectful…your kind of people.” Drautos remarked, glancing at Nyx.

Nyx paced in front of him and glowered, steely blue eyes flashing with resentment “Hold up,” He snarled. “My kind of people would say, _kiss my ass scar face_.”  

Drautos looked at Nyx calmly, his face had once again shut down into that disconcerting stern mask that gave nothing away.

“This is the part where I could knock you to the ground and press my sword against the back of your neck until you agree to my terms…but it’s clear you have no sense of self-preservation or fear of death, so I’ll spare you that.” Drautos voice was low and measured as he watched Nyx closely.

Nyx let out and exaggerated sigh of mock disappointment and nodded. “Kinky as that sounds- I guess we better call this a day then.”

“You don’t get it do you.” Drautos replied. “You’ll be looking at a very long stay here as a prisoner…Theft, public endangerment, stalking the Prince-”

“I didn’t _stalk_ him,” Nyx interrupted, rolling his eyes. “I borrowed his phone for a grand total of five minutes and that was all it took.”

Drautos ignored him, looking away from Nyx at a small bird hopping along the branch of a nearby silver birch tree.  “Are you familiar with coeurls Ulric?”

“Very.” Nyx shot back at him sharply.

The coeurls native to Galahd were bigger horned beasts distinct from those he had seen in Lucis. They had always inspired a sense of awe in him. Great cat like beasts that moved with such power and grace, such speed, that it was almost impossible not to find them beautiful. Nyx wondered if there were even any left, so much of his home-land had been destroyed. He looked at Drautos, brow furrowed, taken back by the sudden change in topic.

“My homeland had coeurls too…” The Captain said, rubbing his stubbled chin thoughtfully before he continued.  “Fur white as snow in winter and like charcoal in summer.” Drautos’ voice sounded almost tender as he watched the branches of the trees sway in the wind.  

“When the Empire took over they destroyed everything, the beasts had nowhere to hunt so they moved in on human settlements, they killed a few people…The nobleman would shoot and kill them…but more would always move into the area.”

Drautos shifted his attention back to Nyx, the tender expression melting from his eyes to leave nothing but ice. “They discovered if they kept the larger females in cages their scent would keep the other coeurls away, they wouldn’t move in to what smelt like an established territory. You could tell the animals remembered being free... That they remembered more than bare bars, more than being fed barely enough to survive. You could tell they still remembered the thrill of the hunt…All that raw grace and power locked in a cage. They never lived much longer than a year, but you could see the moment their eyes glazed over, you could see that their soul had died long before they did…”

Drautos circled him and came to stop in front of him, voice low and quiet. “The same thing happens to a man.”

Nyx squared his shoulders uncomfortably, unable to think of a response. Drautos continued.

“This is about freedom Nyx. If you want to keep yours, you’ll do this favour. Refuse and not only will your freedom be forfeit, but we will investigate other ties to you, starting with the list of all the people in that bar.”

Nyx grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes, Drautos had him in check-mate and he knew it. He swallowed bitter words and clenched his fists. Throwing a punch at Drautos might make him feel better but he tried to convince himself that it wouldn’t help.

Drautos looked down at Nyx with distaste “You do this, come back with what we want, and we’ll wipe the slate clean. You can get back to your pathetic excuse of a life.”

Nyx pretended to consider it, even though Drautos had him backed into a corner with nowhere to go. He let out a harsh derisive chuckle.

“Fight for my freedom huh? How well did that work out for _you?_ ” He remarked bitterly, arching an eyebrow at the battle-scarred Captain.

Drautos practically growled at him, “A _small_ price to pay.”

The Captian turned away from Nyx, tilting his face towards the sun.

“So what will it be Nyx Ulric?  Are you going to go to Gralea for me and do this favour, or is _kiss my ass scar face_ your final answer?”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I quite enjoyed writing this chapter, Let me know what you think! :D


	5. Infernian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Gralea. Alternative title was "Lots of Layers"

Gralea was bitterly cold and bleak.  Towering, snow-capped mountains encircled the capital, stealing the vicious bite of the wind but leaving the air oddly still and stale. The sun was setting unceremoniously behind iron grey clouds, obscured to such an extent that the cold light of day shifted almost seamlessly into the artificial yellow glare of street lights and the glint of windows across the city.

Nyx watched his breath fog before him in the cold evening air as he got out the back of the car, pulling up the hood of his ski jacket.  The men that had picked him up from the station (Biggs and Wedge they had said their names were) mumbled to each other in Gralean.  Nyx swung his meagre bag of belongings over his shoulder and looked around.

The southern part of the city was a jarring contrast of old and new. Great unadorned apartment blocks and industrial cooling towers dominated the view, rising above the elaborate gothic architecture that stretched across the city. Contorted statues and the smog-stained spires of cathedrals crawled up in places to pierce the skyline, as if somebody had slashed a blade across the layers of metal and concrete to expose the crumbling history beneath. 

Nyx’s eyes settled on the stone façade of the safe house, the details eroded by time and sulphuric industrial rains. Biggs nodded for Nyx to follow them up a narrow stairway into a large, bare room, consisting of a small metal framed bed in one corner and a threadbare arm chair in another. A pair of double doors led out to a small stone balcony, their slatted wooden shutters slashing shadows into the walls of the dim room.  The paint was flaking from the walls and it smelt like damp and dust, but none of it was new to Nyx. It was slightly warmer inside than outside, that was all that counted.  

There was a spotlessly dressed man standing in the middle of the room, arms folded tightly as though trying to prevent anything touching him. He had blonde hair and a soft pretty face that made his scowl appear more like a sulk. He eyed Nyx with unmasked suspicion and contempt.

“Sit down,” he ordered, stalking past Nyx to argue with Biggs and Wedge in harsh Gralean whispers.  

Nyx folded his arms and remained where he was, so far unimpressed with the welcoming party. 

“Look- do we have a problem?” Nyx asked, raising his voice irritably.

The overdressed man turned to him again and narrowed his eyes. “I told you to sit.”

“I’m not your dog. I’ve been sat on a train for twelve hours, I think I’ll stand,” Nyx replied evenly.

The blond raised an eyebrow at him and re-adjusted his coat, obvious in his attempt to ensure Nyx noticed the gun holstered at his hip as he stalked back over to him.

“I am Loqi Tummelt, commander of the Imperial Army. I’ve been burdened with the unfortunate task of ensuring this arrangement with the local police stays within the agreed terms. While you are here, you are under my command and you _will_ take my orders.”

Nyx surveyed him with a bored expression.

“Great. Good for you.” He looked around the bare room again and wandered over to the bed. “Is this where I’m staying then?”

Loqi, clearly disgruntled and not used to being dismissed so easily, followed him. “I didn’t support the decision to allow Lucian personnel here and I sure as hell didn’t sign up for this position. Get whatever information you came here for and then get out.  If you become an inconvenience to me at any point,” he tilted his head to one side, lip curling, expression somewhere in between disgust and a smirk, “I will shoot you.”

Nyx squared his shoulders and fixed him with a steely glare, limited patience wearing thin.

“Let’s get a few things clear…You might not want me here but I _definitely_ don’t want to be here.” He advanced on Loqi, forcing the shorter man to take a few steps back. “I’m not under your command, I’m _not_ Lucian, and I’m not about to be shot by a guy whose gun is colour coordinated to match his boots. Your civilian look is _incredibly_ unconvincing,” Nyx sneered, dropping his bag down on the bed abruptly.  “Now. I’m tired, I’m goin’ to sleep.”   

Loqi looked momentarily lost for words, mouth slightly open in shock as Nyx turned away from him sharply and flopped down on top of the dusty bed. He regained his composure, shooting Biggs and Wedge a venomous glance that immediately ceased their poorly disguised snorts of amusement as they hurried out the safe house.

“Be ready to leave in three hours,” Loqi snapped, sweeping out the room and slamming the door behind him.   

 

______xXx______

 

Not enough time had passed before Nyx found himself in Loqi’s company again, still overdressed, and still too clean for the surroundings. Nyx followed him along the paved streets, neither of them in the mood to engage in small talk. The people Nyx was supposed to be gathering intel on were at a popular club in the heart of Gralea. The plan was simple enough; do business with them, get their account details, mingle, get some information and be back on the train to Lucis a free man by tomorrow. Easy.

“This is the place?” Nyx asked, looking up at the cathedral he’d seen from the safe house. The stained-glass windows depicting the Astrals were dark and forlorn, disfigured gargoyles looming down over them. 

Loqi nodded curtly, “The leader of the group you’re seeking, Arydn, he owns this club and several others. Always crawling with criminals, usually rich criminals.” 

“Guess I’ll fit in then,” Nyx hummed in consideration. “Except for the rich part.”

He had thought Gralea looked far too grim for clubs, having barely seen a single soul on the drive from the station, yet now the streets were bustling with activity. Insomnia, as its name suggested, was truly a city that never slept. Perhaps Gralea was nocturnal.

The club was not inside the cathedral but below it. Nyx left his jacket at the cloakroom though Loqi obstinately kept his coat on. They took the stone staircase down into the cathedral crypt, descending into the glow of the club which was illuminated entirely pink. Anywhere else Nyx would have dismissed the lighting as tacky, but against the stone walls and great curved archways it somehow worked.  He paused to look back at Loqi.

“Remember, we don’t know each other,” Nyx said, sharp eyes scanning the bustling club.

“I wish we didn’t.” Loqi nodded sincerely. 

Nyx looked around; the back of the cathedral crypt had been screened off with frosted glass, with only a single archway leading onto the dancefloor. Bodies danced, arms raised and heads thrown back, silhouetted against the pulses of pink and amber as the deep bass of the music echoed around the chambers of the crypt, shaking the tombs beneath the stone.

Nyx headed over to the bar counter at the centre of the crypt and ordered the beer he usually drunk in Lucis, only to be met with a blank stare from the bartender.  He shrugged, gesturing at the drink at the top of the cocktail list instead.

“Fine, that thing then, thanks.” 

Loqi wandered over and took the barstool next to Nyx before ordering himself a drink, angling his body to face away from Nyx until they were almost back to back.  Maybe because they were pretending not to know each other, or maybe he just didn’t want to look at him longer than necessary.

Nyx handed over the gil for his drink, he couldn’t be sure in the lighting, but it _may_ have been fluorescent pink. He took a sip of it and pulled a face, clearing his throat.  It was _very_ strong, certainly a liquor to keep the cold away, but it was good, even if it was perhaps a bit too sweet for his tastes.

Loqi sneered at him in amusement, smirking against the rim of his own glass.

“When you’re quite done choking on your cocktail, Infernian are in the VIP chamber, up the staircase on the left. Ardyn is sitting on the sarcophagus, the one in all the layers.”

Nyx turned to look out across the club, eyes settling on the glass staircase that spiralled up to a stone balcony in front of the VIP chamber. Two men were standing guard in front of a large archway, through which Nyx had a good view of Infernian, and the man who had to be Ardyn. He truly was wearing a _great deal_ of layers. An elaborate coat that must have been too warm, several patterned scarves, high boots and a waistcoat over a billowing white shirt.  Loqi was still mumbling something to him while Nyx got up from the bar and jogged over to the VIP booth.

He took the glass stairs two at a time and quickly slipped behind the guards leaning on the balcony.

“Hey, don’t mind me, just wanna talk to Ardyn about cars,” he exclaimed cheerfully as he entered the chamber.

The room was bigger than Nyx had expected, illuminated with the same vivid pink and amber light. Ardyn sat on a great stone sarcophagus, leaning back against the wall casually, quirking an eyebrow as Nyx intruded. A young blonde guy was leaning with his back against Ardyn’s shoulder, one leg bent up on the sarcophagus, the other straight out in front of him. He was wearing fewer clothes than Ardyn; tight black jeans, high boots, a loose black crop top, leather fingerless gloves with straps that wound up his arms and a thin black choker.

Nyx could tell there were guns pointed at his back, but he continued to talk regardless of the itch between his shoulder blades.

“Ardyn. Heard you were the one to talk to about cars?”

Ardyn held up a hand and the men behind him lowered their weapons. He fixed Nyx with a strange expression that showed both amusement and the promise of threat.

“Please take yourself outside. I’m afraid my business is strictly by appointment only.”

Nyx frowned, “Got any appointments for tonight? I only just got here an-”

Nyx was cut off as a couple of the men closest to him got up from their seats and loomed closer threateningly. Both unnecessarily tall, one with shoulder length silver hair tied back from his face and the other with a shock of short red hair and a scar across his cheek.  Both armed to the teeth, wearing serious expressions.

“OK…” Nyx raised his palms and began to back away from them out the chamber “I can take a hint – guess you’d rather have an imperial commander at your party instead.”

The silver haired guard snapped something at him in harsh Gralean and gestured for him to come closer.

“Oh you wanna talk now?” Nyx shot back, walking over while sparing a glance at Ardyn, who was watching calmly with a faint smile, absently tugging at one of the many straps gracing the blonde’s arms.  

“Point them out to me,” The silver haired man said impatiently, steering Nyx towards the balcony with one hand on his shoulder. He leaned closer, “You better not be mistaken.”

Nyx pointed at Loqi, who was still sitting by the bar where Nyx had left him.

“That guy there, wearing a coat indoors for fashion,” Nyx grimaced, momentarily glad he was on the balcony and out of Ardyn’s earshot.

The silver haired man nodded at the other men on the balcony and clapped Nyx on the shoulder, steering him back into the VIP chamber.

A pair of guards approached Loqi at the bar, who shook off any attempts they made to touch him with a glare as they corralled him up the glass stairs to face Ardyn.

Loqi pursed his lips together and folded his arms.

“Long time no see Ravus,” He quipped at the silver-haired man, “Seen your sister recently?”

Ravus spat something at Loqi in Gralean and advanced on him, but the red-haired guard caught his arm and held Ravus back with a smirk.

Ardyn stood up; abruptly enough that the blonde leaning against him fell flat on his back and Nyx’s eyes were briefly drawn to the sight of him, splayed out on the carved stone tomb like a sacrificial offering. The blonde let out an indignant huff and propped himself up on his elbows, his eyes briefly roamed over Nyx, expression guarded.

Loqi watched Ardyn saunter over and his eyes flitted briefly to the door. The tension in his shoulders betraying his calm exterior.

“Commander Tummelt, a pleasure as always,” Ardyn mocked, voice low and laced with sarcasm as he dipped his head in an exaggerated bow. “I’m afraid I can’t tolerate an unannounced visit from imperial personnel in my establishments.”

Loqi waved his hand dismissively, “I had a drink, I paid, and I tipped. Why is it a problem I’m here? I can hardly arrest all your patrons in one night,” he huffed.

Ardyn rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“My primary concern is my customer’s well-being, I would hate to see them fall into imperial custody. Not to mention the fate of imperial prisoners is something of an urban legend.” Ardyn’s eyes glittered with malice, “Thus, your presence here is _particularly_ bad for business.”

He tilted his head to the side thoughtfully and smiled, devoid of any friendly intent.  “I suggest you leave a _larger_ tip, and leave hastily. In return, I will not press the issue when I must next do business with The Empire.”

Nyx watched Loqi gather his composure and nod before turning sharply on his heel and leaving. He wondered briefly what business a club owner might have with The Empire. Drautos had given him _zero_ details, but whatever, that wasn’t part of his job.

Nyx looked at Ardyn, suddenly aware the other man was observing him curiously.

“I suppose thanks are in order, for bringing this to my attention. Though… I do wonder why you would go to the trouble,” Ardyn inquired with a note of suspicion.

The red head and Ravus were aggressively arguing in Gralean behind him, momentarily distracting Nyx until he returned his focus to Ardyn and shrugged.

“Nobody likes the Empire crashing a party.  I grew up in Galahd before I moved to Lucis, when the Empire took over the streets were crawling with his sort, looking for any excuse to lock up anyone and everyone,” he recalled bitterly.

Ardyn nodded solemly, the trace of a smile still tugging at his lips before he glanced away from Nyx to frown at Ravus and the red-head “Will the pair of you stop bickering,” he snapped. 

They quieted immediately, and Nyx noticed the red-head was standing very close to him, eyeing his tattoos with keen interest.

“Is this guy going to hump my leg?” Nyx asked warily, looking at Ardyn. 

The red head smirked and uttered something else in Gralean, to which Ardyn nodded his head in response.  “Tredd would like to know your name. As would I,” he stated flatly.

“Nyx Ulric.”

Tredd laughed and shoved Ravus hard in the shoulder, who simply fixed him with a dangerous glare in return.

“I knew it! I saw your video -well, all your stunt videos actually. But that one with the Prince’s car,” He laughed again gleefully. “Awesome stunt!” He exclaimed, grinning broadly.

Nyx couldn’t help but grin in return, turning to look at Tredd and accepting an enthusiastic hand shake.

“Thank you man, always great to find my talents are appreciated,” he replied with a laugh.

Ardyn fixed Tredd with an exasperated look and sighed wearily.

“It appears you have a fan, though this is unsurprising, as Tredd is also a reckless thrill-seeker,” he chided.

“You enjoyed that video too boss,” Tredd retorted with a smirk.   

“Admittedly yes,” Ardyn conceded, raising his hands and eyeing Nyx up contemplatively, before lacing his fingers together dramatically and gesturing at him. “You are here to talk cars- Correct?”

Nyx nodded. “Heard you’re the best for sourcing rarer models.”

“Well, you have heard correctly,” Arydn noted slyly as he gestured to an L shaped white leather sofa at the back of the room, “Please take a seat. It would be a pleasure to discuss business with you, Nyx.”

Ardyn rounded on the blonde, still leaning back on the sarcophagus, and beckoned for him to come over with a smirk. “Prompto, lets go.”

There was another man sitting next to Prompto now, smoking and watching the room impassively. He had dark blonde hair smoothed back out of his face and sharp cheekbones. Prompto got up and followed Nyx to the sofa, taking a bottle of champagne from an ice bucket to fill three glasses.

Prompto took a glass and slumped down beside Nyx, stretching out over the sofa, revealing the lean pale strip of his tummy. He crossed his legs on the table in front of him and raised his arms, lacing his fingers behind his head casually. Nyx noticed he had several studs in his left ear and was wearing grey eye-shadow, made darker by the dim lighting of the club.  He looked so much younger than all the others, Nyx would have guessed somewhere in his early twenties. Prompto glanced at Nyx casually, eyeing him with cold suspicion for a moment before averting his gaze as Ardyn joined them, positioning himself opposite Nyx across the table.

“So. What is it you’re after?” Ardyn asked, picking up his glass of champagne.

Nyx shifted in his seat and pulled a crumpled list from his back pocket before passing it over to Ardyn.

“Just ten cars to start, some high-end stuff.”

Ardyn took the list from him between his index and middle finger, scanning it with interest. His smile widening as he finished reading.

“This last one, number ten, might be more difficult to source,” he mused, passing the list to Prompto who read it and looked up at Nyx, a reluctant smile tugging at his lips. It was the first smile Nyx had seen on Prompto’s face all evening and it brightened his eyes considerably.

“That one’s for me,” Nyx said with a satisfied grin, “threw that one in to get something out of the deal,”

“Well it’s certainly an impressive line-up,” Ardyn declared.  

“Ten cars is hardly worth the effort.  We’re talking a lousy two mil Lucian credits here. Tops,” Prompto interjected, sliding the list back across the table to Ardyn dismissively.

Nyx frowned, turning to face Prompto.

“Hold the phone chocobo, I said ten cars to _start_. The Lucian buyers I represent consider ten cars an appetiser.” He tapped the table irritably. “And It’s gonna be 1.5 lousy Lucian credits _max,_ ” he scoffed.

“1.8,” Prompto argued.

“I’ll _let you_ have 1.7,” Nyx countered.

Prompto chewed his lip and raised an eyebrow at Ardyn thoughtfully, who bowed his head at Prompto in response. Deal set.

“Do you know what a wire transfer is?” Prompto asked, voice tinged with a patronising lilt of doubt.

“Is this kid for real?” Nyx asked Ardyn, amused, before fixing Prompto with a grin.

 “Sweetheart, don’t you have somewhere else to be? Let us big boys have a conversation?” He smirked, gesturing between himself and Ardyn.

“Con- ver- sa-tion, wow, four syllables dude. Need some ice before you brain overheats?” Prompto sneered, offering Nyx a few cubes from the ice bucket.

“Ice. Sure,” Nyx smirked, taking a sip of champagne and nodding thoughtfully as he returned his glass to the table, “You could chisel some of your heart… _If_ you can find it.” He raised an eyebrow at Prompto challengingly, who pressed an ice cube to his lips before throwing it with flawless aim into Nyx’s champagne flute, which pinged musically and fizzed on the table before them.

Nyx raised an eyebrow in surprise, momentarily stunned.  “This would work a lot faster if I had an account number,” he said, amused.

Prompto seemed to be having a harder time concealing his own smile now. The blonde leaned forward over the table, allowing Nyx a clear view of his ass encased in those tight jeans. Prompto plucked a pen and business card from one of the many pockets of Ardyn’s complex coat before scrawling the account details on the back of the card.

He stood and looked down at Nyx. “You have three days to transfer the money.  Don’t waste my time,” Prompto stated, passing Nyx the card.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Nyx said, taking the card. “Maybe I’ll throw in a few extra gil from me to send you to charm school,” he teased.

Prompto sneered at Nyx, leaning over him to steal his remaining champagne before flashing him a grin and stalking off to stand with Tredd and Ravus.

Ardyn, looking thoroughly entertained, raised his champagne glass at Nyx with a smile.

“Now that business is over with, you’re very welcome to stay for the rest of the party.” He stood, tucking the list of cars Nyx had ordered into the inside pocket of his coat.

“Sure,” Nyx grinned, following Ardyn to re-join the rest of Infernian. “Are drinks on the house now?” he asked hopefully.

Ardyn chuckled and waved a hand at him.

“Help yourself." 

______xXx______

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shamelessly lifting some of the best dialogue from the film, but there ya go. Updates may not be every week but they will happen. - Thanks again to Lythane for beta reading <3 x  
> Would love to hear ur thoughtssss.


	6. If you send somebody to save the world-Make sure they like it the way it is.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nyx wants to come home now...But Drautos has other plans
> 
> It's not over yet.

Nyx was woken by a loud, incessant ringing noise that seemed to bore into his skull, echoing through the safe house. He reached off the bed, face pressed into his pillow to block out the morning light, blindly shuffling through his coat and bag for whatever was making such a gods-awful noise.  His hand grasped cool metal and he picked up the device, aimlessly pressing all the buttons in a vain attempt to shut it up. ~~~~

“Having a nice rest Ulric?” Drautos demanded, a tinny version of his growling voice emitting from the phone.

Nyx groaned and flipped the phone over in his hand, coming face to face with Drautos’ stern face on the small screen.

“Dial it down old man; I only went to bed an hour ago.” Nyx muttered indignantly, shielding his eyes from the sunlight filtering through the slatted windows and squinting at the screen. 

 “You were given a specific list of cars to order,” Drautos snapped, voice still _far_ too loud.

“The cars on your list fuckin’ sucked, they would have seen straight thought it,” Nyx scoffed, shifting to sit up. “Hang on a sec,” he mumbled, casually tossing the phone on the bed, giving Drautos a beautiful view of the damp-stained ceiling while he pulled on his jacket and retrieved a laptop from the armchair.

 “I got the info you wanted,” Nyx noted smugly as he sent over the spreadsheets to the Lucian database and propped the phone up on the bed next to the laptop, so he could see Drautos.      

Drautos was silent, face unreadable as his eyes scanned quickly over the information on his screen.

“Names, birthdays, military ranks and affiliations, education…Favourite foods?” Drautos narrowed his eyes. “How did you get all this?”

“Tredd Furia,” Nyx laughed dryly “One of your kingsglaive buddies, right? He happens to be an action sports fanatic so, naturally, he’s a fan. If you kill a bottle of vodka in three swigs you’re gonna talk too much.”

Drautos had gone oddly still, Nyx wondered if the video had frozen until the Captain blinked.

“Tredd Furia went MIA four years ago, along with Luche Lazarus and Sonitus Bellum. All were presumed dead.” Drautos remarked bluntly.

Nyx raised an eyebrow in response and then held up his hand at Drautos abruptly.

“Oh- I got something else for you.” He leant off the bed and took the card Prompto had given him from the jeans he’d left crumpled on the floor. “Their bank account number,” he added, putting the details into the spreadsheet and updating it for Drautos, who _almost_ looked impressed.

“What’s the deal with these guys anyway?” Nyx shrugged, “Stolen cars, shady clubs, brothels, extortion…Hate to burst your bubble Captain but you got criminals just like this back in Lucis.” 

“I’m sure you’d know,” Drautos quipped.

“There you go again, trying to hurt my feelings,” Nyx folded his arms and huffed, “So. Where’s my train ticket home?”

“You don’t get to come home yet,” Drautos said evenly, “I want you to get closer to them, see what else you can find out.”

“What?” Nyx exclaimed, irritated. “No. I did my job, I’m coming home,” he insisted.  

“Consider yourself a victim of your own success, Ulric, I’m sending somebody over to the local police station with a care package for you,” he said flatly.  

“We had a deal,” Nyx snapped, clenching his jaw and seething with quiet rage.

“You change the cars, I change the deal.” Drautos leant back in his chair. “This is important, Ulric. You have a way in – So take it,” he said calmly as his hands clenched into fists on the table in front of him. 

“You know, if you’re gonna send someone to save the world, make sure they like it the way it is,” Nyx growled, before flipping his middle finger at Drautos and hanging up the phone abruptly.

Drautos watched the window showing Nyx’s face disappear indifferently and continued to scan through the information, surprised how much intel the other man had gained in a single night.  Sending Nyx back in with so little information was putting him at risk and he knew it, but he couldn’t afford to miss the opportunity to investigate Infernian further.

A loud knock on his office door dragged Drautos from his thoughts as Cor appeared in the doorway without waiting for a response, his face deadly serious.

“We just got a call from Scientia…The Royal party have been stranded in Hammerhead after the King’s Regalia was stolen,” he reported.

“When did it go missing?” Drautos asked, getting up from his chair and frowning.

“First thing this morning,” Cor replied sharply.

Drautos glanced at his phone, still open on the single text he had received from Nyx after he had arrived in Gralea stating; ‘Cars on your list are boring as shit. Not ordering them.’

He rubbed his face and groaned as sudden realisation dawned on him.

_Fucking Ulric…_

 _____xXx_____

 

The local police station was one of the older stone buildings a short drive from the safe house. It was not what Nyx had expected. Admittedly, Nyx had been expecting a dimly lit, creepy basement where unsuspecting citizens were crowded into grimy prison cells or could be heard screaming from interrogation rooms. Instead, the station was bright and spacious, with high ceilings and large windows streaming with sunlight.

Biggs and Wedge led Nyx through the bustling open plan offices towards a large polished wooden table at the back of the room. A woman with shiny shoulder length silver hair wearing a black fitted shirt was sitting at the table in a large ornate chair, casually resting an elbow against the carved wooden arm rest.  She was closely watching a blonde woman perched on the edge of the table facing her. The blonde had short curly hair and was wearing a red cap, a cropped yellow jacket and some _very_ short denim shorts, while chattering in a bubbly accented voice.   

 “Engine probably weighed 200 pounds, but that sure wasn’t a problem for me-” she paused, noticing the silver haired woman’s eyes shift to focus on Nyx, and looked over her shoulder.

“Well hi there! You must be the secret agent,” she beamed, jumping down from the table and walking over cheerfully.  “Name’s Cindy. S’good to meet you Nyx!” She held out a hand and Nyx shook it. 

After being cheated out of his ride home, Nyx had been determined to make things difficult for whoever the Captain had sent over, but Cindy’s charm and enthusiasm was already winning him over.  They seemed to be winning over the silver haired woman at the table too, who had abandoned her paper work in favour of admiring Cindy.

“I’m not really a secret agent,” Nyx admitted “it’s more like community service,” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well, the Captain must sure think a lot of ya to have this here equipment sent over.” She put a hand on her hip and smiled brightly at him.

“Show me the stuff then,” Nyx replied, trying to force a note of enthusiasm into his voice.

“Sure, let’s get started!” Cindy nodded. 

The silver haired woman stalked over to them with cat-like elegance and placed a hand on Cindys back gently.  

“I’ll let you through to the weapons room. I need a break from paper work,” she said, surveying Nyx with mild interest.

“Aranea Highwind, Captain of the South State Police,” she stated flatly.  “I’m glad you’re here; hope you can get us some answers.” She turned and walked away without waiting for a response, opening a door with a swipe of her card and waved them through, shutting the door behind them.

The training room was spacious and tidy. A long metal counter and weapon lockers lined one side of the room and several punching bags and targets were dotted around the centre of the room. Tall windows in the large domed ceiling cast scattered patches of sunlight across the chipped mosaic floor: The colours of the mosaic were aged and faded, depicting the Glacian encased in ice, her eyes closed, hands clasped together in prayer.

Cindy led Nyx to the metal counter and smiled as she snapped open one of the many cases stacked there, pulling out a sleek silver gun.

“This one’s from paw paw, there sure aren’t many people out there who can engineer something like this! It’s a multi-purpose, multi-function field revolver.” She presented it to Nyx proudly.

Nyx took the weapon, unwilling to admit he knew very little about guns.

When he had grown up in Galahd, carrying a weapon like that was more likely to _make_ him a target than keep him safe, not to mention they were expensive. The smooth metal was cool to the touch and a good weight in his grip. It certainly looked impressive…

“I like this,” he grinned.

“Well, then you’ll love these!” Cindy continued, as she gesticulated excitedly to the neat row of different, brightly coloured bullets in the case.

“These here are all different attachment darts, these green ones? Those are Mandrake darts,” She explained, plucking a clear dart full of a toxic green liquid from the case and grinning at Nyx.

“Bang!” She exclaimed, rolling the dart between her fingers. “Your target’s out for 12 hours and wakes up confused as heck with a mighty splittin’ headache!” she beamed excitedly.

“Yeah…I got shot by one of those,” Nyx said dryly, eyes narrowing at the green dart as he remembered all too clearly the apparent sum-of-all-hangovers he had awoken with in the Citadel. 

Cindy’s smile became a grimace as she replaced the dart in the case gingerly with a sharp apologetic nod.

“Well, anyhow, this one’s a phoenix down dart,” she chimed, enthusiasm not waning as she picked up another dart filled with a blood-red liquid, “It’s a tranquillizer with the appearance of a kill shot, but without the side effects…Like, ya know, death,” She shrugged. “Then there’s exploding bullets, radio surveillance darts and your regular standard ammo if you need to get nasty.” She winked. 

Nyx looked at the bullets thoughtfully before pointing the gun at one of the targets experimentally, getting used to the weight and feel of the weapon.

“You fire guns much?” Cindy asked curiously, noticing Nyx wasn’t _quite_ aiming the gun right.

Nyx put the gun back in the case and shook his head.

“Nah, but I had my leg in a cast for 3 months...and I played _a lot_ of first person shooters.” Nyx admitted grudgingly.

“Well that’s mighty sad Nyx,” Cindy nodded sincerely “We’ll schedule a training session with Aranea before you go back out there don’t you worry.”

“If I wanna get nasty with someone I’m much better with blades,” Nyx countered hotly, folding his arms.

“That’s swell but, bless your heart, you don’t bring blades to a gun fight.” she laughed, “C’mere let me show you the rest of the equipment,” she said, moving eagerly to the next case.

Nyx followed grudgingly and arched an eyebrow as Cindy opened the next case, revealing what looked like a pair of hi-tech binoculars.

“There ya are. Griffon eyes!” Cindy introduced proudly, taking them out the case tenderly and powering them up. “These beauties have nine different enhanced vision modes, you scroll through them with the dial here.” She ~~,~~ held the binoculars up to her eyes and pointed them at the opposite wall. “Then you adjust the view focus and – Oh!” Cindy startled, taking the goggles away from her eyes as her face flushed a deep red.

Nyx took the goggles from her curiously and looked at the wall, quickly realising what had Cindy so flustered. The binoculars were perfectly focused to give them a view through the solid walls into the shooting range next door, where Aranea was firing a gun into a target, seemingly wearing no clothes at all on whatever mode the binoculars were currently set to. Nyx let out an appreciative low whistle and bit his lip before lowering the binoculars to grin at Cindy.

“You really like her, don’t you?” he teased; before raising the binoculars again and trying the other modes pointed away from Aranea (Cindy’s blush was even more pronounced in infra-red mode).

Cindy laughed, a blush spreading down to her chest and making her freckles stand out against her flushed face.  She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled, stammering something incoherent.

Nyx grinned with amusement before clutching the binoculars to his chest “I’m gonna need to hold onto these.”

Cindy covered her grin with her hand endearingly before clearing her throat and heading back over to the counter. “This is the last thing I got for ya, Nyx.”

She turned around to face him dramatically holding a small cardboard box in her hand filled with...

“Bandages?” Nyx asked sceptically, as Cindy sauntered over to one of the punching bags in the middle of the room.

“Not just any bandages Nyx!  These here contain enough explosives to blow a hole in a vault…or vaporise a human being! You remove the plastic backing to arm them for detonation. So only peel the back off the ones you want to blow up. You can even arm more than one at the same time.” Cindy explained cheerfully, grabbing one of the bandages from the box and slapping it onto the punching bag.

“Check out the detonator, pretty slick huh?” She added, flashing a small silver panelled button at him.  “You may wanna back up a bit for this sweetie,” she insisted, as Nyx rolled his eyes and took a few steps back out the way. Cindy’s blue eyes glittered as she stood beside Nyx with the detonator at the ready.

“Fire in the hole!” Cindy shouted enthusiastically, pressing her thumb to the detonator.

The punching bag exploded with such a sudden, violent force that the entire room was instantly filled with a dense cloud of dusty fibres.  Nyx raised his arms to cover his face just in time as both he and Cindy were smothered in debris. ~~~~

After he had recovered from the shock that such a small bandage had causing such a horrific mess, Nyx looked over at Cindy.  Taking in her shocked expression, her face and clothes covered in the punching bag fibres, it was clear she wasn’t expecting such an eventful detonation. He laughed, which turned into a hacking cough as he inhaled a lung-full of dust.

Aranea burst in through the door looking startled, her eyes quickly darting between Cindy, Nyx and the remaining husks of the punching bag strewn across the mosaic floor.

“Is everything under control in here?” She asked. Leaning in the doorway with an amused smirk when it was evident nobody had been hurt, aside from the sad husk that remained of punching bag.

Cindy nodded rapidly, face flushing again as she looked over at Aranea.

“Everything’s under control Captain!” She stammered, giving Aranea a firm salute. “Just a…little…mess…” she added, brushing debris from her clothes.

“Speaking of mess…Cindy was wonderin’ if you wanted to grab a drink with her some time?” Nyx grinned, as Cindy managed to blush even darker, her mouth opening in stunned silence.

Aranea blinked in surprise before a smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. Her eyes roamed over Cindy, covered head to toe in smudges and not at all dressed for the Gralean climate.

“Yeah I’d love to” She replied fondly.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to introduce Prom and then take him away in the following chapter. From the next one onwards we should be gettin into the gud stuff tho :P thanks for your patience.  
> I've also got all the backstorys down for how Ravus, the glaives and Prom ended up with Ardyn. Most of it will be covered in the main story but theres potential for a few one shot spin offs if theres interest. 
> 
> Thanks again to Lythane for beta reading! <3


	7. You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nyx collects the cars from Infernian, including that special something he added to the list just for him. <3
> 
> The title of this chapter is also the title of the Queens of the Stone Age song that plays in the film...and It just feels appropriate here too.

Nyx paced towards the vast warehouse, pulling his jacket tighter around himself to fight the chill in the night air.  The light spilling from the windows pierced the darkness, illuminating the run-down streets and buildings. The warehouse sat precariously at the very edge of Gralea, beneath the looming presence of the towering mountains that encircled the city.

He headed over to the lone figure standing silhouetted in the open door and came face to face with Tredd, who flashed him a grin through chattering teeth.

“You’re in for a treat, c’mon.” Tredd waved eagerly, gesturing for Nyx to follow him as he set off at a brisk pace through the door.

Nyx followed Tredd into the brightly-lit warehouse, smile widening as he took in the sight before him.  The ten sports-cars were lined up along the wall, polished and gleaming in stark contrast to the plain warehouse walls. 

Nyx wondered if Drautos would have all the stolen-to-order cars returned to their owners. He couldn’t shake the feeling that anybody who could afford to hoard such luxury in the middle of a war deserved to have it stolen. Seeing the cars lined up before him was oddly cathartic.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Tredd laughed, stretching his arms out wide in appreciation.

“For sure,” Nyx replied smugly, grinning widely as he walked along the line of the cars, running his hand over the cool, sleek bonnet of a toxic green Lamborghini. His eyes scanned the warehouse. There were more sports cars lined up at the back next to the exit, along with motorbikes, snowmobiles and stacks of wooden crates behind a forklift truck.    

Footsteps echoing through the warehouse announced Ardyn’s approach, flanked by Ravus on one side and Luche on the other, both looking unusually tense. Prompto was trailing behind them, scrolling on his phone looking disinterested.  

“Do you like the cars?” Ardyn asked, voice clipped and cold.

“Love the cars, they’re fuckin’ ace,” Nyx replied sincerely, grinning at Ardyn. “Do you like the money?”

“I _love_ money, darling, but I do not have it,” he said, voice low and threatening as he fixed Nyx with stern amber eyes. Nyx was keenly aware of Tredd’s smile slipping as he moved to stand behind him in silent threat. 

Nyx tried to silence the cynical voice in his head that insisted the Lucians weren’t going to pay, that they had sold him out to fit some other agenda. If that was the case, things would get nasty really fast.

“You look like you’re doing extremely well,” Nyx observed, glancing at Ardyn and gesturing around the warehouse. “All these employees, the clubs, beautiful cars-”

“Now is not the time to be funny,” Ardyn interrupted, folding his arms.

Nyx fought to keep his appearance relaxed, feeling a crawling sensation between his shoulder blades. He was severly outmanned and outgunned, there was no way in hell he was getting out of here if things went badly.  

Prompto cleared his throat and stepped up to stand beside Ardyn, holding his phone in one hand as he flashed the screen in Ardyn’s direction, rubbing his thumb and finger together.

“Ka-ching,” Prompto chimed, shifting his gaze to Nyx.

Nyx let out a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding in.

 “ You didn’t think I wasn’t good for it did you?” Nyx smirked at Ardyn, his excitement returning as the tension visibly left the room; shoulders relaxing, fists unclenching.

“It never even crossed my mind,” Ardyn said with a hint of amusement raising his palms.

“There’s a freight train departing for Lucis from just outside Gralea tomorrow, I’ll give you the details-”

“Leave them with Ravus,” Ardyn interrupted, waving a hand dismissively.  

“I’ll be keeping number ten here with me though,” Nyx added, watching Ardyn as he handed the delivery details over to Ravus. “Where is it?”

“It was certainly not easy to track down,” Ardyn commented, a sly smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as he walked past Nyx along the gleaming line of sports cars. He stopped, gesturing dramatically as he approached the final car, currently hidden beneath a white cover.

Nyx grinned broadly as he caught up with Ardyn and reached out to pull off the cover.

“No please. Allow me,” Ardyn intercepted, moving to the passenger’s side of the car and whipping the cover back dramatically, revealing…

The Regalia.

Nyx bit his lip and let out a groan of approval. Tredd made a similarly lewd noise from behind Nyx and even Prompto, who was leaning against the bonnet of a vivid orange Mclaren beside them, couldn’t conceal his grin. The Regalia was truly something, with all its intricate fine details and glossy paint work glinting with blue and purple undertones.

“Perhaps a drive?” Ardyn suggested, seemingly delighted with the reactions to the reveal as he threw the keys to Nyx, who caught them deftly in one hand.           

“Fuck Yeah,” Nyx shot back, unlocking the car without hesitation. He slid into the driver’s seat, breathing in the smell of leather. Ardyn took the passenger’s seat beside him and glanced sideways at Nyx, watching as he turned the key in the ignition.  The engine gave a rumbling purr, rising to a powerful growl as Nyx revved the engine.

Nyx let out a soft sigh of approval and turned to look at Ardyn.

“You’re alright Ardyn,” Nyx grinned, stroking his thumbs over the soft leather of the steering wheel.

“Everything’s alright with enough wine,” Ardyn hummed. “You should accompany us to a party at one of my clubs tonight, a celebration marking the countdown to the winter solstice,”

“Sure,” Nyx replied, about to put the car in to drive when an ear splitting crash echoed through the warehouse.

Nyx and Ardyn both threw open their car doors and got out, startled. Nyx looked around wildly and spotted one of the high windows on the roof of the warehouse roof had fallen out of the iron wrought frame, shattering over the stacks of crates, showering shards of glass over the oil stained concrete floor.  At first Nyx wondered if rocks had fallen from the cliff face, but then he spotted movement, the shadow of a figure running past the dusty warehouse windows on the roof.  Then Nyx spotted another movement; Ardyn turning to face him, narrowing his eyes and reaching to draw his gun.

 Nyx reacted almost reflexively, pulling out his own gun and aiming it at Ardyn’s head, just as the other man did the same.  They were frozen, both staring down the barrels of each other’s guns over the hood of the Regalia.  Nyx didn’t dare take his eyes off Ardyn, though out of the corner of his eye he could see Luche and Prompto, both aiming guns at him.

“Something wrong?” Ardyn said nonchalantly, despite the dangerous glint in his amber eyes.

“You tell me,” Nyx spat in reply. “You got a sniper up there or what?”

“They’re not with us, so they must be with you,” Ardyn replied without even blinking.

“Bullshit!” Nyx’s heart raced as he held his ground, muscles frozen. “Tell your men to back the fuck down or I’m gonna’ give you another hole to breathe out of.”

Ardyn’s eyes narrowed, merciless and calculated. Mere seconds passed, but to Nyx it felt like a lifetime, he didn’t dare breathe.  Suddenly, Ardyn pulled up his gun.

“Very well.” He nodded at Prompto and Luche and tapped the hood of the Regalia, “We’ll get them together.” 

Nyx pulled up his own gun and, hastily tumbled back into the driver’s seat of the Regalia, adrenaline coursing through his veins like fire as he revved the engine to life. Ardyn sat back in the passenger’s seat beside him.

“Far exit then take a sharp left, they were on the roof so there’s nowhere else they can run,”

Nyx shoved the car in drive and sped across the warehouse, he glanced in his mirror and noticed Prompto, Luche, Ravus and Tredd were following close behind on motorbikes.

The brakes screamed as Nyx turned the car outside the wide warehouse doors, hearing stones and grit scatter beneath the car as the engine roared.  

Nyx spotted the intruder jumping down from a rusty step ladder from the warehouse roof. Ardyn was right, the intruder was trapped like a rat with nowhere to run but straight ahead towards the perimeter fence. Nyx sped towards the intruder, who turned at the sounds of the growling engines, caught wide-eyed in the glare of the headlights. Nyx could suddenly see who it was…

“Why if it isn’t Commander Tummelt,” Ardyn sneered. He opened the car window and leaned out, aiming his gun steadily at Loqi, expression cold and indifferent.

Nyx opened the cylinder of his revolver and selected the phoenix down dart, clicking it back into place as he watched Loqi sprint towards the fence.  Nyx’s heart raced as the sound of the engine reverberated in his chest.  He tugged sharply on the wheel just before Ardyn could take his shot spinning the car around so he could get a clean shot at Loqi.  He aimed, and fired; hitting him square in the back.

Loqi fell at the shock of the impact and landed sprawled on the road, still and unmoving.

Nyx stared ahead at the fallen Commander, carefully keeping his expression blank. He knew he wasn’t dead but the sight of him in laying in the road under the glare of the headlights was still unsettling... He would need to contact Aranea discreetly as soon as he had the chance or Loqi could very well still freeze to death.

Ravus pulled up his motorbike and stopped at Ardyn’s side, his face stern, smirking faintly at Loqi before tilting his head towards Ardyn.

“Should we dispose of him?”

Ardyn waved a hand dismissively, “Leave him there, it’s the Empire’s problem now.  If they sent him then they have overstepped, if he came snooping without orders then he got what was coming to him.” 

Prompto stopped his motorbike beside Nyx’s window and took off his helmet, his blonde hair like sunshine breaking through storm clouds. His eyes widened as he stared at Loqi lying motionless on the ground.

His gaze switched to Nyx, lavender eyes catching the light from the warehouse window and for a moment his expression was unguarded.  His eyes held bitter resentment, clouded with pain and anger. He clutched his motorcycle helmet in both hands tightly, shoulders tense looking almost lost.

Nyx watched as Prompto’s eyes flicked to Ardyn and he re-built his expression, face closing back down into the cold uncaring mask before he shoved his helmet back on and sped away after Ravus. Nyx was trying to work out why Prompto appeared so affected by Loqi’s apparent death when he became aware of Ardyn watching him.

“Most people talk a lot, though few of them are up for the moment.” Ardyn smiled, mysteriously.

“Welcome to Infernian.”

 

______xXx______

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is ~nearly~ finished and will be up Tues or Wed.  
> It seems right to end this one here anyway.  
> Hope you enjoyed reading it <3  
> Come scream with me on tumblr (dread-behemoth)  
> And huge thankyou again to Lythane for beta reading. 
> 
> The comments and Kudos are very much appriciated <3


	8. Cheaper Than Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nyx starts to get closer to Infernian…Perhaps a bit closer than Drautos had in mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nyx sort of dissociates a bit in this chapter at one point and there's some gore descriptions which are kept pretty vauge.   
> We're not really into "Bad touch chancellor" territory but I guess it's implied.

Ardyn’s club, Thundaga, was a vast refurbished factory at the edge of the South city border: Some of the old factory equipment remained, giant static relics that poured smoke onto the dance floors and great metal pipes that ran along the walls. Nyx weaved through the bustling crowds and walked out onto a raised metal platform above the dance floor to get a better view. ~~~~

He leaned on the edge of the balcony, looking up at the cage dancers and giant chrome globes that towered over the multi-tiered dance floors and metal walkways. The globes conjured giant forks of electricity that sparked between them in jagged lines, flashing over the smoky dancefloor in time to the rapid beat of the music.

Luche moved to Nyx’s side holding his cigarette between his fingers and tilting his head back, blowing smoke up into the glare of the blue and purple strobe lights.  He flicked ash apathetically onto the dance floor below and Nyx noticed a barcode tattooed on the inside of his wrist.

“Don’t think I’ve ever seen you without a cigarette,” Nyx teased, shouting over the music. “Smoking kills ya know?”

Luche sneered and took a deep drag of the cigarette in response, “We all have our vices.”

“Tredd said you and Sonitus were Kingsglaive buddies. Get tired of doing the Kings laundry or something?” Nyx asked taking a swig of his drink.

“Tired of washing the blood out of it, sure,” Luche scoffed.

“So what, you just told them you fancied a career break?” Nyx arched an eyebrow at him curiously.

Luche flicked the butt of his finished cigarette onto the floor and leant closer to Nyx.

“Nah, got taken prisoner by the Empire while we were evacuating a town. That sucked.” His hands shook slightly as he took out a new cigarette from the pack, putting it behind his ear while he fetched his lighter from his back pocket.

“I escaped prison, and then met Ardyn trying to arrange safe passage out of Gralea.” Luche stopped to light his next cigarette before continuing.

“Ardyn offered me a job here.” He blew a ring of smoke and glanced at Nyx. “So I decided to stay.”

Nyx nodded thoughtfully, remembering how many of his friends in Galahd had been imprisoned by the Empire; he didn’t know of a single person who had escaped.

The memories carried him away from the crowded club, back to his home town, when Libs had thrown a brick through the window of some Empire official.  He recalled the vivid details of their old apartment, where he had fought to keep Libertus safe when they had come for him. Nyx had sliced open one of the attacking Magitek troopers, finding circuits and metal as expected, but also flesh and sinew, disfigured viscera twisted with wires spilled out across the floor. The black blood had stuck to his skin like tar, dark under his nails for the whole journey as they fled home for Lucis.

“You hear me?” Luche’s voice in his ear pulled him back from the past, but his voice and the music still sounded blurred at the edges, as if he was underwater. He shook his head apologetically and Luche laughed bitterly in response, blowing smoke in Nyx face with a knowing look.

“Smoking is cheaper than therapy,” he added, rubbing the barcode on his wrist absently.

Nyx blinked at Luche, breathing in the smoke as the world regained clarity. He flashed an uncertain grin, finding his voice.

“Thanks, but I’ll stick to dangerous stunts and booze,” Nyx shook his empty glass at Luche. “Speaking of which, I could use a top up,” he noted, before leaving Luche and heading back to the bar.

Nyx was pondering which drink to try next when Ardyn joined him at the bar. The man had finally shed some of his layers, now minus his coat and waistcoat. His white shirt, illuminated by the blue strobe lights made his wine-coloured hair look darker. He spoke in Gralean to the bartender who returned moments later with two rows of shots on a tray. Ardyn took half of the shots and lined them up in front of himself before sliding the tray with the remaining three shots over to Nyx with a smirk. They were all blue liquids which got progressively darker, the first one almost clear and the last one the colour of deep open water, almost black.    

“As the night is still young…” Ardyn chimed, raising one of the shots in a gloved hand, smiling faintly at Nyx.

Nyx grinned and took his first shot from the tray, raising his glass to chink against Ardyn’s before downing the drink. It was refreshing with a strong citrus flavour Nyx hadn’t been expecting from the colour. He put the glass down and looked at Ardyn.

“So you were talking about Infernian. What’s that, some motorcycle club of yours?” he asked.  

“Are you not familiar with the stories of the old Gods?” Ardyn smiled.

Nyx knew of the old gods, but their stories and significance varied across the nations. Bahamut the god of war was revered throughout Lucis, upheld as a symbol of honour and justice. Though he was considered more of an omen of destruction in the stories Nyx had heard growing up. “Some of them,” he shrugged in response.

“In times long gone, Gods and Demons lived among mankind. The Six were worshipped and ruled across different nations which grew in size and power. The Draconian, weary of his duties, selected a bloodline to rule in his place, granting them power and status above all others.  He instilled within them his lust for conquest, and the nations fell into war that consumed the lands.” Ardyn paused and picked up his second shot, gesturing for Nyx to follow suit. They knocked their glasses together again and Nyx threw back the second shot. It was sharper than the first and very sour. Ardyn put down his empty glass and continued. 

 “The Gods turned their backs on the mortal’s war, unwilling to evoke the Draconian’s wrath for the sake of humans, all besides the Glacian and the Infernian, who stood together and protected their cherished nations. The invading forces were pushed back, and the Draconian’s elected King called for terms of peace. The Glacian alone agreed to visit his lands to negotiate, only to be slain by the king she was oathbound not to harm. The Infernian, enraged, ended the war by destroying the Draconian’s corrupted monarchy. Though doing so broke his oath and cost him his life.”

Ardyn turned to look at Nyx, the electricity flashed behind him over the dance floor through the smoke as if a storm cloud were about to engulf them. Ardyn pushed his hair back out his face and leaned closer to Nyx to make himself heard over the music.

“The Infernian is a symbol of sacrifice in pursuit of freedom. There is no Freedom in war; there is no freedom in being bound by oath to serve Gods, Kings or Government. Freedom was earned with fire, and rebuilding from the ashes of burned Kings.”

Nyx arched an eyebrow at Ardyn, unsure if he had really been given an answer, but amused by the other man’s theatrics.  He raised his final shot and Ardyn bowed his head gracefully as they both downed their final glass. Fuck, it was strong; it burned all the way down his throat and spread warmth through his stomach.  Nyx should have known after almost choking on the pink drink back at the cathedral club that Gralean liquor couldn’t be trusted. He managed not to cough but Ardyn’s laugh told him the struggle must have shown on his face. After he had regained his composure he looked back at Ardyn thoughtfully.

“Look, I’m not exactly a fan of the monarchy and I’m sure as hell not a fan of the Empire, but beyond fighting them what you gonna do? Rules and government are everywhere...Rich people make poor people fight their wars… Always have always will,” he added bitterly.

Ardyn’s amber eyes were serious as he pushed away from the bar “Maybe not always.”  

Ardyn nodded for Nyx to follow him, and he accompanied the other man to the balcony that overlooked the dancefloor. Nyx rested his elbows on the cold metal; he followed the line of Ardyn’s gaze to the dance floor just below them and saw that he was watching Prompto.

The blonde’s eyes were closed, focused only on the pulse of the music as he swayed his hips and ran his hands over his body.  He tilted his head back, baring his throat as the silver metal choker tight around his neck flashed in the light. He was wearing tight black skinny jeans and a loose black crop top; though Nyx noticed the crop top was _lace,_ fine and soft against Prompto’s pale skin.

Ardyn walked down the stairs, snapping the blonde out of his trance like state.

Nyx watched as Ardyn moved up behind Prompto, sliding his hands over the blonde’s hips and pulling him back against his body gently. He leant down to whisper something in Prompto’s ear and Nyx thought it was odd how rigid he seemed in Ardyns hold, compared to the fluid way he had been dancing a moment ago.  Ardyn stepped back away from Prompto, letting his fingers trail over bare skin. He looked up at Nyx on the stairs above them and gave Prompto a pat on the ass before inclining his head at Nyx as he left, disappearing into the crowd.

Nyx became acutely aware Prompto was staring at up him from the dancefloor with a mildly hostile expression. He decided to make the first move, leaning down over the staircase and flashing Prompto his best charming smile. “You wanna’ dance?”

Prompto blinked long lashes at him and let out a sudden derisive laugh, before pushing away from the stairwell and slipping away from him onto the dancefloor.

Nyx frowned in confusion.

“Hey, I’m actually a pretty good dancer!” Nyx called after him, following the sway of Prompto’s hips as the blonde weaved through the crowd, bright hair and the glint of his silver choker like a beacon.

He caught up with Prompto ordering himself a drink at the bar.

“Make that two,” Nyx added to the bartender, leaning on the bar counter beside Prompto.    

Prompto glanced sideways at Nyx, expression unreadable. The smoky eye makeup made his lavender eyes brighter, almost unnaturally striking in the glare of the blue strobe lights. The blonde raised a questioning eyebrow at him but still said nothing, quickly turning his attention away from Nyx to down the double shot he had ordered.

“So it’s gonna be like that is it?” Nyx asked, before knocking back his shot.  He was (once again) overcome with regret that everyone in Gralea seemed so determined to punish themselves with lethally strong substances.  However, the face he pulled did draw a smile from Prompto, so Nyx decided, in this case, it was justified.

“Look, if you’re mad at Ardyn don’t take it out on me,” Nyx said, still grimacing from the lingering aftertaste.  “I’ve been trying to figure out the deal between you two since we met,” Nyx continued, “You two together or what?”

Prompto smirked and turned to face Nyx. He leaned closer teasingly, lips slightly parted. Nyx could smell the alcohol on his breath, could feel the warmth of his body under the fine lace as Prompto whispered close to his skin.   

“Yeah we’re together… If you pay me as much, we can be together too.” He pushed up from the bar and stalked away again, heading up a metal spiral staircase that had been roped off. He glanced back down at Nyx, eyes roaming over him thoughtfully before jerking his head for Nyx to follow.

Nyx didn’t wait to be told twice, he watched the sway of Prompto’s hips as they walked up the stairs to one of the platforms raised high above the dance floor. Prompto leant back against the balcony facing Nyx, the strobe lights and the jagged lines of electricity threw flashes of light and shadow over the line of his body as Nyx moved to stand in front of him.

Prompto’s eyes wandered over Nyx slowly, a faint flush appearing across his cheeks as he reached out and put his hands lightly on Nyx’s his hips. Nyx moved closer and gripped the balcony either side of Prompto, caging him in and leaning closer, feeling a rush of heat flutter low in his abdomen as Prompto’s lingering gaze drew him closer.   

Prompto closed the distance between them, fingertips pressing into Nyx’s hips and pulling him roughly against his body. Their lips met and Prompto made a soft eager sound in his throat.  He deepened the kiss, tasting the alcohol on Prompto’s tongue as he moved his hands to his narrow waist, revelling in the feel of his bare skin, warm and soft under his hands.

Prompto grabbed a fistful of his hair, which drew a sharp gasp from his mouth and made his heart race. He let Prompto take control, smirking and closing his eyes as the blonde kissed teasingly along the side of his throat, lips soft and breath hot against his skin, still holding Nyx’s hair tightly in his grip.  Nyx ran his hands up over Prompto’s lean tummy, under the delicate lace of his top, his fingers brushed over Prompto’s nipples discovering were pierced and _very_ responsive to his touch. _Fuck_.

Prompto jerked slightly in response and bit back a moan.  Cupping Nyx’ jaw in both hands and pulling him back into a deep slow kiss, his body arched back against the balcony. The deep bass of the music hummed around them, singing through Nyx’s chest along with the heat of their bodies until he almost felt weak at the knees.

Prompto pulled back and looked at him, face flushed and lips glossy. His lavender eyes still glittering with need.

“Did you enjoy that?” he asked, putting his hands on Nyx’s chest and forcing him to take a step back.

“Yeah,” Nyx managed to reply, still buzzing from kiss.

“Good,” Prompto said sharply, expression slowly shutting down into its cold mask. The spark of need disappeared from his lavender eyes, leaving him looking empty. “Because it will never happen again.”

Prompto pushed away from the balcony and walked away, leaving Nyx blinking in confusion, still feeling the phantom press of Prompto’s kiss on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK- I had a real urge to put prom in a dress for this chapter tho. 
> 
> Thanks again to Lythane for beta reading. <3


	9. Hospitality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nyx is invited back to the after party, where he is offered more than he is expecting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Lythane for Beta reading! <3

Ardyn had insisted Nyx joined them for the after party, an offer he wasn’t about to refuse if it got him closer to his train ticket home.

He tailed Ardyn’s raspberry coloured convertible in the Regalia, following them beyond the border of mountains that encircled the city along an icy road that wound steadily up a snowy valley. Nyx was distantly aware of the fact he was certainly _not_ sober enough to be driving anything, let alone the King’s personal car, along a treacherous single-track road in the company of criminals. Nyx had the top of the regalia down in the hope the cold air would sober him up and Ardyn had done the same.

Ahead of him he noticed Prompto lounging back in the passenger’s seat, putting his feet up on the dashboard, only to be rewarded with a slap to the back of the head from Ardyn.

Nyx was still at a loss to explain Prompto’s conflicting behaviour towards him; but he had a feeling he was hiding something.

They pulled up to an estate and Nyx eyed the high walls topped with spikes as the gates slowly opened before them.  Ice and grit crunched under the tyres as Nyx followed Ardyn’s car along the long winding driveway through an archway that opened out into a vast courtyard.

In front of him stood one of the most extravagant looking mansions he had ever seen, brightly lit by flood lights and bustling with activity. In the centre of the courtyard stood a huge, deep, stone fountain pouring with hot steam full of scantily clad men and women, laughing, drinking and smoking , unperturbed by the layer of snow covering the courtyard. 

A column in the centre of the hot-tub fountain rose up out of the steam, on which stood a towering statue of Ifrit the Infernian with the Glacian. Ifrit held her waist, clutching her in a possessive embrace as she tilted her head back to the heavens. Behind the statue, a wide sweeping stair case led up to the grand entrance of the mansion.    

Ardyn parked in the courtyard and Nyx pulled the Regalia up to park beside him.  He got out the car and rubbed his cold hands together, the icy bite of the wind throughout the drive had made him start to miss the mountains surrounding Gralea.

He looked around, spotting at least four security cameras in the courtyard alone and several raised security towers around the estate, all manned by armed guards. The place was a fortress.  

“Home sweet home,” Ardyn announced, gesturing grandly at the mansion before them.

Nyx turned to Ardyn, noticing Prompto had already stalked ahead, determinedly not looking at him.

“This place is incredible,” he remarked, walking up the stone steps with Ardyn into the mansion.   

“The original owners just disappeared one day.”  Ardyn spread his fingers and smiled slyly. “It would be criminal to leave such a place empty, falling into disrepair.”   

Nyx was wondering to himself if “disappeared” was a euphemism for something when shouts of laughter pulled his attention from Ardyn back at a rather drunk Tredd, who had stripped naked in the snow and was sliding into the steaming fountain to join a pair of women as they laughed and whooped in encouragement.

Ardyn looked slightly exasperated but unfazed, as though this were a relatively frequent occurrence. They stepped through into the grand entrance of the mansion and Nyx gazed up at the expansive domed ceiling high above him, covered in fine art and lavish hangings.

It was clear the mansion had been repurposed in ways the original occupants hadn’t intended… Nyx felt an odd sense of satisfaction as he noticed the deep grooves and scuffs in the varnished hardwood floors where large leather sofas with clawed feet had been dragged in from another room.  More men and women in various stages of undress lounged across them, surrounded by fur throws and cushions.  

Ardyn gestured grandly at the surroundings “Please make yourself at home.” He inclined his head and swept away, leaving Nyx by himself.   

Nyx wandered over to the back of the entrance hall where a large number of vases, china plates and ornaments were lined up on crates, sparkling in the light.  He was examining a glass moogle with delicate wings when it suddenly shattered before his eyes. He jumped in surprise and turned around, noticing Ravus standing a few meters behind him, wearing a long sleeved black top and faded grey jeans, idly throwing and catching a blade in one hand.

“You’re standing in the target range,” Ravus said bluntly.

“Oh,” Nyx grinned, amused and hastily moved out of knife-throwing-range to stand beside Ravus. “That explains why you hoarded all this odd shit together in one place.”

Ravus took up aim at a china tea cup and let his blade fly, shattering the cup and scattering delicate shards of china across the crate. 

Ravus had been the first to leave the club after doing the bare minimum of socialising; he hadn’t even made it until midnight. Nyx was now reaching the conclusion that breaking shit was probably more like Ravus’ idea of fun, though he hadn’t known it was humanly possible for somebody to scowl at a teacup with such contempt.

Ravus gripped his next throwing knife and Nyx noticed he, like Luche, had a barcode tattooed on the inside of his wrist.

“Is that barcode some kind of matching tattoo your club has?” Nyx wondered.

Ravus covered the barcode with his free hand as though he had been suddenly burned, pulling the sleeve of his top down further to conceal it. The fierce stare he fixed Nyx with told him he was likely _wrong_ about the barcodes.

“Shit.” Nyx raised his palms apologetically. “Forget I mentioned it.”

Ravus stared at Nyx a moment longer before his expression softened slightly (only slightly) and he shrugged, trying to brush off his reaction.

“It’s fine,” he snapped, throwing his blade without really looking where he was aiming. He missed, and the blade clattered against the side of the crate.

“The Empire certainly likes to leave its mark,” Ravus added bitterly. 

Nyx noticed that Ravus had run out of knives to throw and retrieved them, using the opportunity to pin-point the locations of a pair of security cameras at the back of the room.  He offered the blades back to Ravus who took them from him with a sharp nod.

“The Empire barcodes all their prisoners,” Ravus said, looking away from Nyx to scan for the next unfortunate item of crockery to vent his frustrations on.

“Aren’t you the Prince of Tenebrae though?” Nyx raised an eyebrow at Ravus.

“ _Former_ Prince,” Ravus corrected, throwing one of his blades and shattering a vase.  “It was their idea of a cruel joke I think. When the Empire seized control of Fenestala Manor they fitted it with a similar security system to those used in the Imperial prisons. Both my Sister and I were branded with barcodes.” 

Ravus spun his next knife in his hand absently, glaring at the floor.  “Every movement… Everything we did was monitored and controlled… but my sister refused to come with me when I left with Ardyn.”

Nyx watched Ravus curiously as he struck down a painted plate with his blade, remembering the other man’s reaction when Loqi had made a remark about his sister in the Cathedral club. Lady Lunafreya, the oracle of Tenebrae, always seemed so prim and proper; composed and gracious in a way Nyx found incredibly dull.

It was strange to think of her as a prisoner of the Empire under house arrest, and even stranger to think of her as the little sister Ravus had left behind.

“Why didn’t she go with you?” Nyx asked cautiously.

Ravus let out a derisive laugh and looked at Nyx, fixing him with angry grey eyes, though this time the anger didn’t seem to be directed at him.

“Her _duty_ ,” Ravus spat, as if it were a curse. “She wished to continue as the Empire’s political puppet, and be married off to the Prince of Lucis.” 

Nyx watched as Ravus threw a blade at an elaborate salad bowl, unsure how to respond. He didn’t blame Ravus for leaving to escape the Empire, and told himself he didn’t know enough about the situation, or how Ravus ended up working with Ardyn, to judge his choice…But then he thought of his own sister, unable to imagine leaving her behind in a dangerous situation.

He would have given up anything to have been able to protect Selena.

Ravus, who had run out of blades again, appeared to be done with talking and excused himself to bed leaving Nyx alone with his thoughts.

______xXx______

Prompto made his way up the curved steps of the mansion after waiting by the fountain long enough to lose Ardyn and Nyx (narrowly avoiding being pulled into the fountain by Tredd). 

He took the steps two at a time, all the while fuming at how stupid he was being.  He _shouldn’t_ have kissed Nyx back in the club, he shouldn’t have let his emotions get the better of him.

Nyx had killed an Imperial commander for Ardyn for no obvious reason other than to impress him… He was bad news, just as bad as the rest of them.

 _As bad as me,_ he thought to himself bitterly.

It didn’t help that Ardyn was pressuring him to get closer to Nyx, for whatever agenda he had planned, and so far, Nyx had been dumb enough to fall for all of it. Flirting certainly lost its appeal when it was under orders.

Prompto thought back to their kiss in the club, flushing as he remembered the feeling of Nyx’s hands on his body, the jump of the other man’s pulse in his neck as he kissed his throat and grabbed his hair… OK, perhaps flirting hadn’t lost _all_ its appeal.

Prompto could feel himself becoming increasingly flustered at the memory and was glaring angrily at the floor when he collided with something head first. The world spun for a moment and he felt hands grip his hips and steady him.  

Startled, he blinked up to see Luche leering down at him.

“You OK there?” Luche asked, moving close enough for Prom to smell the liquor and cigarette smoke on his breath.

“I’m fine,” Prompto stuttered hastily, feeling a flush of warmth creeping across his cheeks and cursing himself internally, knowing Luche would misinterpret it as feverish eagerness on his part.  

Luche smirked and circled behind Prompto, sliding his hands over his shoulders, “Let me get your coat,” he offered, curling his fingers under the top of Prompto’s jacket until he brushed bare skin, leaning closer to speak softly against Prompto’s neck. “You’re all covered in snow…”

Prompto felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as his shoulders tensed uncomfortably, breath catching in his throat as his alcohol addled brain fought to keep up.  

“Uh, thanks!” he laughed nervously, shrugging out of his coat quickly and suddenly feeling very exposed in his lace crop top.  Prompto wiggled away from Luche before he could respond, hurrying over to one of the leather sofas set into an alcove at the back of the entrance hall without glancing back.

Stomach still squirming uncomfortably, Prompto flopped down on his back, silently wishing he could sink through the leather and disappear for a while out of sight.  

He looked up at the domed ceiling high above him, depicting each of the Astrals painted around the five points of a star, with Bahamut in the centre. Light streamed from the Draconian’s clawed hands as he cupped a human figure wearing a crown.  Even on the high ceiling the artwork had not been spared, Bahamut and his king were peppered with vivid paintball splatters.

Prompto had been hoping to be left alone until morning but as soon as he saw Ardyn loom over him, he knew there would be no such luck.

“I believe it’s time for bed,” Ardyn commented smugly.                 

Prompto decided he was both too drunk and too tired to play Ardyn’s mind games. He had to follow orders, but he didn’t always have to be polite about it.  

“Fine,” he snapped, pushing up from the sofa to stand in front of Ardyn. “Pervert,” he added under his breath, not particularly caring if Ardyn heard him.

Ardyn just laughed at him, reaching out to grab his jaw with one hand and shaking it gently.

“Prompto, while I certainly favour your company, I’m afraid I have other matters to attend to,” Ardyn mused as he traced a finger over the metal choker around Promto’s neck.  

Prompto kept his face carefully blank and stood still, unwilling to give Ardyn the satisfaction of making him visibly uncomfortable.

“Besides,” Ardyn added, “I believe I asked you to keep our guest company tonight. I’m _quite_ disappointed you seem to be neglecting that duty.”  Ardyn moved to stroke the back of Prompto’s neck and arched an eyebrow at him.

“What?” Prompto stammered, flinching away from the touch before he could stop himself, which only prompted Ardyn to tighten his grip.

“I would have expected you to jump at the opportunity, you certainly didn’t hold back when you first met,” Ardyn mocked sarcastically. “Unless of course… Something happened at Thundaga you are neglecting to tell me?” Ardyn’s molten gold eyes narrowed in warning, voice lowering threateningly as he gripped Prompto’s throat.

 _Shit shit shit,_ Prompto thought to himself, Ardyn would be pissed if he found out he had blown Nyx off in the club. The fact Ardyn had even invited Nyx back to the mansion at all was a sign he was probably trying to recruit the guy.

“It’s not a problem,” Prompto hissed, voice strained against Ardyn’s hold. Hoping he wasn’t doing such a miserable job at hiding his anger as he thought.

Ardyn regarded him with cool amusement before releasing his grip on Prompto’s throat. He stalked away from the alcove, eyes scanning the entrance hall until they fixed on Nyx.  Nyx was laying back on one of the sofas casually talking to Tredd, despite Tredd being soaking wet and still completely naked from his adventure in the fountain.

“Nyx. It’s getting quite early,” Ardyn announced across the room before looking back over at Prompto. “Prompto, if you would be kind enough to show him to his room,” he added with an unpleasant smile.

Prompto attempted to maintain his calm exterior, despite feeling like a rabbit in headlights with Ardyn still watching him. He looked away, trying instead to focus on Nyx walking over to him.

Guilt ate away at the back of his mind as he realised he couldn’t shake off the flutter of anticipation in his gut as his eyes roamed over Nyx, admiring his strong arms, the tattoos, and the way his braids brushed his broad shoulders. Nyx’s steely blue eyes regarded him with curious amusement and Prompto felt his pulse hammer in his throat.

Prompto turned away to hide his blush, leading Nyx out of the grand entrance hall and up the wide staircase. His mind was racing as he walked along the hallway towards the guest rooms. He wondered how Nyx would react to his advances this time, would he stop him after what he had said in Thundaga? Or would he just take what was offered to him despite his earlier signals…

He paused in front of the guest room and gripped the door handle tensely, trying to regain his composure as he pushed open the door.

 

______xXx______

 

Nyx watched as Prompto revealed the guest room, a decadent suite with a plush red carpet and four poster bed, probably the biggest bed Nyx had ever seen. He wandered in to the bedroom and looked around at the lavish decorations before glancing back at Prompto, who was still lingering by the door.

“You hangin’ around to tuck me in to bed?” he asked light-heartedly, arching an eyebrow at Prompto.

Nyx was expecting Prompto to simply make a cutting remark and leave; so he was surprised when instead Prompto shut the door behind him and walked towards him. Placing his hands lightly on Nyx’s hips as he leaned closer.

“You know, I can give you more than just a kiss good night, right?” Prompto’s voice was low and teasing; that glint of need Nyx had seen at the club was glittering in his eyes again as he hooked his fingers under the edge of Nyx’s belt eagerly, eyes lingering over his body.   

Nyx frowned at Prompto in confusion, after being given the cold shoulder at the club this was the last thing he had expected, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.

“You’re going to give me whiplash stopping and starting like this,” he said suspiciously, removing Promto’s hands from his belt gently and holding his wrists gripped together in front of him. “What’s going on with you?” he asked, frowning slightly.    

Nyx watched as Prompto’s expression quickly became cold and unreadable again as he struggled to settle on an answer.

“It’s nothing.” Prompto shrugged, and as he moved Nyx noticed faint dark marks gracing the side of his throat above his silver choker.

“What happened to your neck?” Nyx let go of Prompto’s hands in surprise. He definitely hadn’t seen those marks at the club earlier.

Prompto’s touched his fingers to the side of his neck gently and his expression faltered, as though the fear in his eyes had finally melted through the cold mask.  He frowned and shook his head in exasperation.

“Do you wanna’ fuck me or not?” Prompto huffed, avoiding the previous question.

“Not if it wasn’t your idea.”  Nyx raised his palms and took a step back from Prompto. “If this is just Ardyn’s form of hospitality I’m not into it,” Nyx stated flatly, noticing how Prompto’s eyes darted towards the door nervously at the mention of Ardyn’s name.     

“His guests don’t usually refuse the hospitality,” Prompto added bitterly.  

Nyx frowned, glancing again to the bruises on his throat.  He watched Prompto thoughtfully for a moment and finally shrugged. 

“Look, If it’s going to cause you trouble then stay here tonight,” Nyx suggested, gesturing towards the gigantic bed, “Just to sleep though,” he reassured.  “And if anybody brings it up tomorrow, I’ll just say I rocked your world.”  Nyx winked.

Prompto laughed, and it was a genuine laugh that reached his lavender eyes, making them brighter for a moment.

“You’re supposed to try and make it sound believable,” he joked.

“You _should_ believe it,” Nyx grinned, before wandering over to the four-poster bed and pulling his top off over his head.  He stripped down to his boxers and slumped down on the bed, which was by far the most comfortable bed he had slept in in his entire life.

He groaned appreciatively and let himself sink against the mattress comfortably, opening one eye as he felt Prompto slide into bed next to him under the covers.               

Prompto had taken off his lace top and choker; he had his back to Nyx, with the covers pulled up to his hips,  giving Nyx the view of his lean waist and back, covered with a scattering of small freckles over his shoulders.  Nyx watched as the tension began to slowly ease away from Prompto’s shoulders as he relaxed into the mattress, and wondered how Prompto had ended up here with Ardyn; amongst Soldiers, Princes and prisoners of the Empire.

He was always at their side yet he didn’t seem to fit in.

“Good morning then,” Nyx mumbled against the pillow as he reached to turn off the light.

Prompto pulled the covers up over his shoulders and shifted back slightly closer to Nyx, until their bodies were almost touching.

“Yeah… good morning.”        

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK. I am sorry this update has taken so long! Christmas was pretty hectic and honestly I struggled with this chapter a bit / with motivation to write in general. 
> 
> Hopefully there won't be such a wait for the next one. 
> 
> I have bumped it up to Mature just coz some of the themes arent necessarily "teen" anymore. There might be more stuff to come that would warrant a mature rating anyway.
> 
> OH- I have a prologue planned where there may be an appearance from Luna. Lets just say she will be quickly dispeling any lingering preconcieved ideas shes "prim, proper and dull" 
> 
> As always I'm happy to hear your thoughts here or talk to me on my tumblr "dread-behemoth" <3


	10. Snooping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This isn't how Nyx usually asks people on dates- promise.

Nyx woke and stretched out under the covers, opening his eyes blearily to be greeted with an empty bed.  He left the warmth of the covers reluctantly rolled out of bed, pulling his clothes back on before walking over to the window framed by heavy red curtains.

Nyx squinted against the glare of the sunlight, flashing gold across the snow-covered grounds and surrounding mountains.  The distant sounds of snow mobile engines drew his attention to a large outbuilding at the edge of the grounds where a communications tower stood not far from the outpost at the edge of the valley.

Nyx stepped away from the window and headed towards the door, figuring now, while the mansion was silent, was a good opportunity to do some snooping.

He made his way back down the grand staircase, treading carefully so as not to break the almost eerie silence that had settled over the mansion.  Without the cover of night, the damage to the mansion was thrown into stark relief.  Sunlight streamed through the huge windows and cast a harsh light across the grand entrance hall, the holes in the walls and the breaks in the furniture.

A tangled mass of wires ran haphazardly across the grand entrance, Nyx followed the winding loops with his eyes across the scuffed polished floor until they disappeared into a room at the other side of the entrance hall.

He followed the wires silently through an open door and found himself standing in a vast library. It was huge, spanning over two floors; floor to ceiling with polished wooden bookcases that towered above him as he looked around, surprised that in here everything appeared undisturbed and undamaged.

Nyx followed the trail of wires between the rows of bookcases, moving through the narrow beams of morning sunlight that sliced through the gaps in the curtains.  Specs of dust danced in the light as Nyx approached a large ornate table in the centre of the library, where the wires led to a large number of computers and monitors, the screens flicking between different cctv feeds from around the mansion.

Security intel of the mansion was sure to earn him a gold star from Drautos so Nyx moved from screen to screen, frowning as he tried to visualise the mansion and it’s grounds. There were so many cameras outside that sneaking up on the place unnoticed would be extremely challenging… _almost_ impossible.

Nyx leant down to look closer at the footage from one of the outposts at the far edge of the mansion that overlooked a steep cliff face, tapping his fingers on the desk and chewing his lip thoughtfully.  under cover of darkness the trees clinging to the rockface would provide enough cover for maybe one or two people to infiltrate the mansion, but it looked like a very risky ascent. 

Nyx squinted to count the guards on duty in the surrounding area and suddenly froze, feeling his blood run cold. The guards were MagiTek troopers…They didn’t have the Empires emblem emblazoned to their armour, but there was no mistaking them and ominous slightly jerky way they moved as they patrolled the grounds.

Nyx couldn’t make sense of it. Ardyn clearly seemed to hold disdain for the Empire and the others he had spoken too; Luche, Ravus and Tredd, all made their hatred for the Empire very clear… So what was going here?     

The sound of a heavy door shutting pulled Nyx from his racing thoughts and he rapidly ducked back behind one of the bookshelves, heart racing as wondered once again what the _hell_ Drautos had sent him in to.

He peered out from his hiding spot behind the bookshelf as footsteps approached the monitors.

It was Prompto.

He was wearing knee high snow boots and a black fur lined ski jacket. His face was set and determined as he clutched a camera in his hands.  Nyx watched as Prompto walked past the table over to a bookcase at the end of the room. 

He took several pictures of the bookcase before running his hand over the edges of the books. His hand settled over a black book with faded gold lettering on the spine and he removed it from the bookcase.   

There was a mechanical clunking noise and the bookcase suddenly began to retreat down into the floor. Prompto continued to take photos as the receding book case revealing a sleek metal safe on the wall.

He photographed every inch of the safe and the book in his hand before pressing a button on the top of the bookcase, which began to rise again slowly to conceal the safe.

Nyx stepped out from his hiding place behind the book shelf.

“Not that It’s any of my business, but a power drill and titanium drill bit would get you further than that camera.” Nyx announced, walking past the table towards Prompto.

The way Prompto froze and tightened his grip on his camera betrayed him only because Nyx was watching for it… He was definitely up to something suspicious, but he turned to look at Nyx calmly, expression hostile and indifferent.

“You are not supposed to be in here…” he snapped, putting the book back on the shelf hastily and looping his camera strap over his neck, taking a few purposeful strides towards Nyx.

“I was on my way to the bathroom…What’s your excuse?” Nyx came to a stop before Prompto and raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

Prompto drew his gun and pressed it under Nyx’s jaw, eyes narrowed, “Bathroom in your room not good enough? I don’t need an excuse.”

Nyx eyed Prompto for a moment before grabbing his wrist, turning the gun to face away from him only to find Prompto had drawn a second gun at his throat- _damn_ he was fast. Nyx had to concede that if Prompto had really _wanted_ to kill him in that moment he would be dead.  So either Prompto didn’t want him dead…or he just couldn’t risk alerting anyone he was here.

Nyx met Prompto’s glaring lavender eyes with a smirk.  

“Oh you’re good,” he commented, before quickly grabbing Prompto’s other wrist and spinning his back to him, holding him pinned to the front of his body with both of the blonde’s wrists crossed over his chest, immobilising him.  “But not _that_ good.”  Nyx added, knowing he had called Prompto’s bluff. He wasn’t going to shoot him.       

Prompto gulped back a yelp and struggled for a moment in Nyx’s grasp.

“I was just going to sell the pictures, somebody would pay a lot for those,” Prompto offered unconvincingly.  

“Come on… you aren’t giving either of us enough credit here.” He leaned closer, noticing Prompto had stopped struggling now. “Your eyes give you away.  They gave you away last night, and they gave you away when I shot the commander.”

Prompto went rigid in his grasp again but his voice was unwavering. “Are you going to tell Ardyn?”

Nyx released Prompto gently and flashed him a bright smile.

“Nope. But I would like to take you to lunch?”

Prompto just blinked at him, clearly lunch had not been on his list of likely outcomes from this situation.

“Oh,” Nyx continued as he fished the keys to the regalia out of his back jeans pocket “Can’t say any more about this here… but the commander isn’t dead.”

\---xXx---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the LONG delay since the last update. And also sorry this is such a short chapter... but I should have a bit more free time for creative projects now so I will hopefully be updating a bit more regularly. 
> 
> If there's anybody still out there reading this then thanks lol <3


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